"THE  HEART  OF  THE  NATION" 


OUR  COUNTRY 


AND 


ITS  RESOURCES 


WHAT  WE  OUGHT  TO  KNOW  ABOUT  AGRICULTURE -FISHERIES 

FORESTS-  PANAMA  CANAL- RAILROADS -MANUFACTURES 

AUTOMOBILES  -  INDUSTRIAL  PREPAREDNESS  -  THE 

NEW  NAVY-THE  ARMY-OUR  MONEY-AERO- 

NAUTICSrMOTION    PICTURES-THE 

WEATHER  -    ASTRONOMY  -  THE 

NATION'S    CAPITAL-THE 

PRESIDENT-  CONGRESS 

ALL  ABOUT  THE 

GOVERNMENT 


-^, 

\VH 


ALBERT  AHOPKINS^ 

Mtm\xt  of  the  American  Statistical  Association 
Editor  of  the  Scientific  American  Reference  Book 
Scientific  American  Cyclopedia  of  Formulas,  etc. 


With  800  Illustrations 


SCIENTIFIC  AMERICAN  SERIES 


NEW  YORK 
MUNN    &    CO.,     INC 

SCIENTIFIC  AMERICAN  OFFICE 

1917 


Copyright  1916  by  Munn  &  Co.,  Inc. 

This  book  is  protected  by  ninety  copyrights 

and  all  persons  are  warned  against  any 

use  of  text  or  illustrative  material. 


The  right  of  translation  into  all  languages, 
including  the  Scandinavian,  is  reserved. 


Printed  m  the  United  States  of  America. 


Bancroft  Ubrazy 


PREFACE 


9  I  VHE  "Wave  of  Prosperity"  which  has  raised  our  coun- 
-*-  try  to  an  unparalleled  position  need  not  ever  recede 
if  we  take  measure  of  our  resources  and  their  development 
at  the  present  time  and  act  wisely  upon  the  information 
obtained.     It  is  the  object  of  this  modest  volume  to  present 
such  facts  as  can  be  obtained  from  official  sources,  in  a 
readable  and  withal  likable  form,  so  that  we  may  have  a 
I  more  wholesome  respect  for  what  Uncle  Sam  is  doing  for 
J  us.     The  "Stars  and  Stripes"  are  protected  by  Acts  of 
ih  Congress  and  State  laws;  the  American  Eagle  cannot  be 
v  kept  in  captivity  (except  in  a  zoological  garden),  but  the 
power  of  the  law  has  never  been  invoked  to  protect  that 

t  symbol  of  our  Federal  Government — *  'Uncle  Sam. ' '  This 
kindly  old  gentleman  with  his  fuzzy  beaver  hat,  his  striped 
~  trousers  and  his  parti-colored  coat  of  the  period  of  1830, 
*is  used  dozens  of  times  daily  in  cartoons,  but  always  in  a 
respectful  sense  as  we  use  it  here — as  a  symbol  of  national 
nJ  esteem. 

lq        There  is  no  more  fascinating  story  in  the  world  than 

jJiow  we  are  governed  by  means  of  often  invisible  threads 

.0  that  seem  to  begin  nowhere,  but  always  end  somewhere 

^-to  our  profit  and  often  pleasure.      Who  shall  tell  this 

wonderful  story  of  achievement?     How  five  blades  of 

grass  are  made  to  grow  where  two  should  be  found;  how 

fish  that  have  been  left  high  and  dry  on  land  after  a  flood 

are  put  back  in  water  to  prevent  "air  drowning;"  how 

forests  are  conserved^at  a  profit;   how  reclamation  makes 

the  desert  smile;  how  national  parks  can  be  run  for  both 

^profit  and  pleasure;  how  good  roads  decrease  the  cost  of 

^living;  how  the  thr,ee  great  Government  Surveys  carry  on 

(Mtheir  ceaseless  work  to  exploit  our  resources,  or  chart  the 

^fairways  of  commerce;  how  the  Coast  Guard  is  always  on 

j-fhe  lookout  to  protect  life  and  property  at  sea;   how  the 

COPatent  Office  has  succeeded  in  making  us  a  nation  of 


inventors  and  quadrupling  our  national  wealth;  how 
commercial  and  industrial  preparedness  have  changed  the 
gears  on  the  car  of  industrial  progress — all  these  and  many 
more  remain  to  be  told.  Who  shall  tell  the  story?  Why 
not  "let  Uncle  Sam  do  it"  ?  He  is  patient,  kind,  amiable, 
and  exceedingly  accurate  in  his  information. 

This  is  what  has  been  done  here.  Uncle  Sam  tells  his 
complex  story  in  his  own  way  with  the  pen  of  high 
Government  officials — cabinet  officers,  heads  of  the  great 
governmental  manufacturing  plants  and  bureaus  under 
Government  auspices,  down  the  list  until  all  of  the 
Government  activities  are  accounted  for.  Unfortunately, 
the  names  cannot  always  be  published,  owing  to  depart- 
mental regulations,  but  enough  names  have  been  printed 
throughout  the  book  to  stamp  this  as  a  very  authentic, 
and  make  it  practically  a  semi-official  guide  to  Govern- 
ment activities.  In  the  section  known  as  "Uncle  Sam's 
Autobiography' '  every  chapter  has  been  submitted  to 
either  the  Secretary  of  the  Department,  or  to  some 
responsible  officer  for  revision.  This  has  required  an 
almost  endless  correspondence,  but  the  Editor  has  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  information  is  as  nearly 
right  as  it  is  possible  to  get  it. 

Besides  Government  officials,  named  and  unnamed, 
special  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  C.  F.  Talman,  Librarian  of 
the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau;  Dr.  F.  L.  Hoffman,  Statis- 
tician of  the  Prudential  Insurance  Company;  Dr.  Richard 
Rathbun  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution;  Mr.  Louis 
Annin  Ames,  an  authority  on  flags,  and  a  number  of 
others  who  have  given  their  kind  assistance.  Adequate 
pictorial  treatment  heightens  the  interest  of  this  fascinat- 
ing subject,  and  the  whole  country  has  been  canvassed  for 
interesting  pictures;  thus,  for  the  chapter  on  Agriculture, 
over  35,000  photographs  were  examined  to  select  the 
significant  ones. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  book  will  be  a  real  contribution 
to  literature  on  true  preparedness — preparedness  for  the 
arts  of  peace,  as  well  as  the  arts  of  war. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Part  One 
UNCLE  SAM'S  ACTIVITIES  AND  INTERESTS 

CHAPTER 

I  Geographical  Discovery 

II.  Population         :          : 

III.  Agriculture         :          I 

IV.  The  Fish  We  Eat      : 
V.  Forests  and  Forestry 

VI.  Reclamation  Service 

VII.  Our  National  Parks 

VIII.  Good  Roads  and  Bad 

IX.  The  Panama  Canal 

X.  The  Three  Great  Government  Surveys 

XI.  Government  Protection  of  Life  and  Property 

XII.  Railroads  of  the  United  States 

XIII.  The  Postal  Service  : 

XIV.  Our  Natural  Resources  and  How  They  are 
XV.  The  Mineral  Industry  of  the  United  States 

XVI.  The  Patent  Office  and  Inventions  Since  184 

XVII.  Manufactures  :         :          :         : 

XVIII.  The  Automobile  Industry  : 

XIX.  The  Recent  Development  of  American 

XX.  Commercial  and  Industrial  Preparedness 

XXI.  Education          :         :          : 

XXII.  The  New  Navy         :         : 

XXIII.  The  Army        :      -  :         :    ' 

XXIV.  Uncle  Sam's  Money 

Part      I.  The  Treasury 

Part    II.  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 

Part  III.  The  Assay  Office 

Part  IV.  How  Coins  are  Minted 


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CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXV.     How  Uncle  Sam  Protects  His  Revenue         :         :         :     321 
XXVI.      Uncle  Sam's  Non-Contiguous  Possessions     :         :          :     327 

Part  Two 
OF  HUMAN  INTEREST  TO  ALL  UNCLE  SAM'S  PEOPLE 


I.  The  American  Flag  :          : 

II.  Aeronautics         :         :         :         : 

III.  Wireless  Telegraphy  and  Telephony 

IV.  Motion  Pictures  in  the  Making 
V.  The  Realm  of  the  Air          :          : 

VI.  The  Heavens  Above  :          : 


Part  J^hree 
UNCLE  SAM'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I.  Washington — The  Nation's  City 

IL  The  Legislative  Hal's 

III.  The  President — The  Executive 

IV.  The  Cabinet      :          : 
V.  Department  of  State 

VI.  Department  of  the  Treasury 

VII.  Department  of  War 

VIII.  Department  of  Justice 

IX.  Post  Office  Department 

X.  Department  of  the  Navy 

XI.  Department  of  the  Interior 

XII.  Department  of  Agriculture 

XIIL  Department  of  Commerce 

XIV.  Department  of  Labor  : 

XV.  The  Smithsonian  Institution 

XVI.  Miscellaneous  Activities  of  the  Goven  ment 

XVII.  Pan  American  Union 


WHAT  UNCLE  SAM'S   "0,   K,"   LOOKS  LIKE. 


Copyright  by  United   Newspapers,    London;   Underwood   &  Underwood,    N.    Y. 
ONE  OF  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  AMUNDSEN  SOUTH  POLE  EXPEDITION   STANDING 

AT   THE   POLE 
Taken  by   Captain   Amundsen   Himself 


Copyright    by    Underwood    &    Underwood 
CAPT.    ROALD    AMUNDSEN,    WHO    DIS- 
COVERED    THE     SOUTH     POLE     ON 
DECEMBER    14,    1911. 


Copyright   by   Underwood    &   Underwood 
CAPT.    SCOTT,    WHO    ALSO    FOUND    THE 
SOUTH  POLE  AFTER  AMUNDSEN,   ON 
JANUARY  18,  1912,  AND  PERISHED. 


PART  I. 

UNCLE  SAM'S  ACTIVITIES  AND 
INTERESTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

PROGRESS  OF  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISCOVERY 

By  CiTRUS  C.  ADAMS 


THE  greatest  era  of  geograph 
ical  discovery  dawned  when 
Christopher  Columbus,  with 
three  small  vessels,  carrying  88  men, 
sailed  into  the  Unknown  from  Palos, 
Spain,  on  August  3,  1492.  The  sig- 
nificance of  this  voyage  was  not 
only  that  it  brought  to  light  the 
Western  World,  but  that  it  also  dis- 
closed the  sea  as  the  great  highway 
of  men  by  which  they  soon  learned 
to  reach  all  the  vast  islands  (con- 
tinents) and  the  lesser  islands  of  the 
globe.  Europe,  for  example,  had  a 
very  misty  idea  of  China  and  India 
till  sea  routes  placed  her  in  touch 
with  them.  Sea  routes  hugged  the 
coasts  of  Europe  and  Africa  for 
thousands  of  miles;  but  Columbus 
added  cross  sea  sailing  to  the  coast 
routes  and  thus  brought  in  the  day 
of  worldwide  exploration. 

The  Vikings  of  Norway  in  the 
ninth-tenth  centuries  A.  D.  had  dis- 
covered Iceland,  Greenland  and  the 
northeast  coast  of  North  America; 
but  these  daring  sea  rovers  were 
far  from  European  centers;  and  as 
it  was  thought  that  Greenland  was 
a  part  of  Europe,  their  work  was  not 
at  all  appreciated,  and,  in  fact,  was 
very  little  known. 
Columbus's  four  voyages,  1492- 


1503,  brought  to  light  the  larger  and 
many  of  the  smaller  islands  of  the 
West  Indies.  He  saw  South  America 
from  the  island  of  Trinidad  and 
noted  the  freshness  of  the  Gulf  of 
Paria's  waters  which  come  from  the 
Orinoco.  He  skirted  the  eastern 
shores  of  Central  America  from 
Guana ja  Island,  around  Cape  Gra- 
cias  a  Dios,  paused  at  Bel£n  on  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  thence  on  to 
Puerto  Bello,  the  most  southern 
point  he  reached.  His  field  of  dis- 
covery embraced  the  area  between 
about  9  to  24  degrees  North  Latitude 
and  60  to  87  degrees  West  Longitude. 
At  St.  Ann's  Bay,  on  the  north  coast 
of  Jamaica,  he  ended  his  great 
work  about  thirteen  years  after  he 
began  it. 

Immediate  effects  of  his  achieve- 
ment were  apparent.  Ten  days  less 
than  a  year  after  Columbus  started 
on  his  third  voyage  to  America, 
Vasco  da  Gama,  after  rounding  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  landed  at  Cali- 
cut, the  first  European  navigator  to 
reach  India.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  great  sea-trade  between 
Europe  and  the  East  Indies. 

Thirteen  years  and  3  months  after 
Columbus  died,  Magellan  started  on 
his  journey  around  the  world  (1519- 


Copyright   by  Muna    &   Co.,    Inc. 


PROGRESS    OF    GEOGRAPHICAL    DISCOVERY 


21),  was  the  first  to  pass  through 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  gave  to  the 
Pacific  the  flattering  name  it  bears 
and  his  expedition  circumnavigated 
the  world  though  its  leader  perished 
in  the  Philippines.  Among  the  other 
most  notable  circumnavigations  were 
those  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  (1577- 
80),  during  which  he  sailed  along 
the  Pacific  coast  of  America  from 
Magellan  Straits  nearly  to  Puget 
Sound,  seeking  in  vain  for  a  water- 
way into  the  Atlantic ;  Admiral  Spil- 
berg,  who  led  a  small  Dutch  fleet 
around  the  world  (1614-17),  inci- 
dentally defeating  a  Spanish  fleet  off 
Chile;  and  Captain  James  Cook, 
whose  memorable  voyages  (1768-79) 
placed  him  first  among  British  mari- 
time discoverers. 

It  was  early  in  the  16th  century 
that  Amerigo  Vespucci,  an  Italian 
adventurer,  claimed  that  he  had 
made  four  voyages  to  America, 
though  not  as  the  commander  of  any 
expedition.  The  dates  he  gave  were 
1497,  1499,  1501  and  1503.  From  the 
time  that  his  writings  were  criti- 
cally examined  by  Alexander  von 
Humboldt,  the  prevalent  opinion  has 
been  that  he  had  no  part  whatever 
in  the  first  discovery  of  continental 
America.  Professor  Martin  Wald- 
seemiiller  of  Lorraine  unfortunately 
gave  full  credence  to  Vespucci's 
claims,  wrote  a  book  in  1507  in 
which  he  said  the  newly  discovered 
continent  should  be  called  America 
because  "Americus  discovered  it," 
and  published  the  first  map  on  which 
the  name  America  appeared.  It  was 
the  blunder  of  a  scholar  that  at- 
tached the  name  America  instead  of 
"Columbia"  to  the  Western  World. 

When  John  Cabot  reached  the 
northeastern  coast  of  North  America 
(1497)  and  landed  on  Cape  Breton 
Island  at  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  he  believed  he  had 
reached  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia. 
He  returned  home  to  announce  the 
news  and,  the  following  year,  went 
back  to  follow  the  whole  coast  and 
locate  Japan  in  the  south.  This 
journey  extended  from  Greenland 


nearly  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of 
Philadelphia,  but  as  he  found  no 
signs  of  civilization  and  his  supplies 
were  running  short,  he  returned  to 
England. 

V.  Y.  Pinson,  who  was  helpful  to 
Columbus  on  his  first  voyage,  dis- 
covered in  1500  the  estuary  of  the 
Amazon,  the  largest  river  in  the 
world.  This  was  about  17  years  after 
Diego  Cam  found  the  mouth  of  the 
Congo,  the  second  greatest  river. 
About  this  time  the  idea  began  to 
weaken  that  the  shores  which  ex- 
plorers had  been  visiting  were  coasts 
of  Asia.  The  population  was  too 
scanty  and  none  of  it  was  civilized ; 
but  still,  no  explorer  was  instructed 
to  find  what  these  new  lands  were 
worth  and  how  they  might  be  util- 
ized. The  main  idea,  for  a  long 
time,  was  to  hunt  for  waterways 
through  the  new  lands  by  which  the 
spices  of  the  East  Indies  and  other 
coveted  Asian  commodities  might  be 
brought  to  the  Atlantic  countries  of 
Europe  without  doubling  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope. 

It  was  while  hunting  for  such  a 
passage,  and  by  reason  of  stress  of 
weather,  that  Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral. 
in  1500,  sighted  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
and  took  possession  of  it  in  the 
name  of  Portugal.  In  a  half  cen- 
tury, the  whole  Brazilian  coast  was 
studded  with  Portuguese  settle- 
ments. The  policy  of  appropriation 
and  development  was  under  way. 
The  avowed  regime  of  the  Portu- 
guese was  to  win  new  lands,  if  pos- 
sible, by  preaching  the  Gospel  to 
the  natives;  if  this  failed,  to  sub- 
jugate them  by  the  sword. 

The  romantic  episode  in  coastal 
discovery  was  the  voyage  of  Ponce 
de  L£on,  of  Spain,  in  1512,  author- 
ized by  his  government  to  search 
for  and  settle  the  fabulous  island  of 
"Bimini,"  on  which  was  reputed  to 
be  a  wonderful  fountain  that  re- 
newed the  youth  and  strength  of  old 
men  who  bathed  in  it.  He  failed  to 
find  the  fountain  of  youth,  but  his 
toil  was  not  in  vain,  for  he  skirted 
a  long  coast  covered  with  flowers 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


and  he  therefore  called  the  land 
Florida  and  said  he  believed  it  was 
a  great  island. 

In  1513,  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa 
heard  from  an  Indian  chief  that, 
south  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
was  another  great  ocean.  Climbing 
to  the  summit  of  the  Isthmian 
range,  Balboa  saw  the  Pacific;  and 
arriving  at  the  shore  on  September 
29,  he  proclaimed  the  "Great  South 
Sea"  to  be  a  possession  of  the  Span- 
ish king.  He  was  planning  to  under- 
take the  conquest  of  the  Peruvians 
for  the  Spanish  crown  when  the 
jealous  governor  of  the  Darien  col- 
ony put  him  to  death  on  a  trumped 
up  charge  of  disloyalty.  The  fate 
of  Balboa,  one  of  the  ablest  men 
in  the  Spanish  service,  was  a  pa- 
thetic incident  in  the  early  history 
of  American  discovery. 

These  data  briefly  summarize  the 
leading  events  in  discovery  and 
early  exploration  along  the  eastern 
coasts  of  the  Americas.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  era  of  the  penetration  of 
the  lands  (16th-19th  centuries).  In 
North  America,  the  gigantic  task  of 
studying  the  vast  interior  to  the 
north  of  the  Rio  Grande  was  the 
work  mainly  of  English  and  French 
explorers  and  European  immigrants 
who  followed  in  their  wake.  But 
many  Spanish  enterprises  took  root 
in  the  present  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
Arizona  and  California.  The  Spanish 
over-ran  the  whole  of  Central  and 
South  America,  excepting  Brazil, 
seeking  gold  rather  than  orderly  ex- 
ploration and  economic  development, 
imposing  upon  the  natives  also  the 
most  cruel  subjugation.  But  this 
eager  quest  for  treasure  so  prodded 
exploratory  zeal  that  South  America 
was  better  known  and  mapped  than 
North  America  towards  the  end  of 
the  18th  century. 

In  1516,  De  Solis  discovered  and 
ascended  the  River  Plata  and  was 
killed  by  Indians  at  the  delta  of  the 
Parana,  near  where  Buenos  Aires 
stands.  In  1519-21,  while  Magellan 
was  sailing  around  the  world,  Cor- 
tez,  a  military  genius  and  a  monster 


of  cruelty,  conquered  Mexico  and  ex- 
plored the  Peninsula  of  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia. Among  the  great  geograph- 
ical results  of  the  advancing  Spanish 
conquest  was  the  descent  of  the 
Amazon  River  from  the  Andes  to  the 
Atlantic  by  Orellana.  In  one  of 
his  wars  with  Indians,  women 
fought  beside  the  men  of  their  tribe, 
which  originated  the  name  Amazons 
applied  to  female  warriors.  While 
the  main  river  has  been  known  for 
300  years  from  the  Andes  to  the 
sea,  much  of  its  basin  between  the 
main  tributaries  of  the  trunk  stream 
still  awaits  detailed  study. 

The  incentive  to  North  American 
exploration  was  long  the  desire  to 
find  a  northwest  waterway  leading 
to  the  Pacific.  Jacques  Cartier 
(1536)  discovered  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  and  ascended  it  to  the  site 
of  Montreal.  He  saw  the  Ottawa 
from  the  top  of  Mount  Royal,  which 
gave  Montreal  its  name.  Cham- 
plain  (1603-17),  the  greatest  of 
Canadian  explorers,  founded  the 
town  of  Quebec,  traced  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  its  source  in  Lake  On- 
tario and  reached  Lake  Huron.  He 
was  hoping  all  the  time  to  find  a 
waterway  to  China.  Henry  Hudson 
(1609)  sailed  into  New  York  Bay 
and  up  the  Hudson  River  to  the 
site  of  Albany  before  he  decided 
that  the  route  would  not  lead  to  the 
Pacific.  While  on  the  same  quest 
in  Hudson  Bay  (1610),  he  and  some 
of  his  men  were  set  adrift  by  mut- 
inous comrades  and  were  not  heard 
of  again. 

About  1660  the  exploration  of  the 
continental  interior  without  thought 
of  reaching  the  Orient,  became  more 
prominent.  It  has  often  required  a 
number  of  explorers  to  establish  a 
geographical  fact.  Thus  French  ex- 
plerers,  chiefly  missionaries,  as  Joli- 
et  and  Marquette,  revealed  the  Mis- 
sissippi between  its  affluents,  the 
Wisconsin  and  the  Arkansas,  within 
700  miles  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
(1660-73).  Father  Hennepin  (1680) 
traced  the  upper  Mississippi  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  and 


PROGRESS    OF    GEOGRAPHICAL    DISCOVERY 


the  site  of  Minneapolis.  Its  lower 
course  had  been  followed  by  Ferdi- 
nand de  Soto  (1541).  De  Soto  has 
often  been  called  the  discoverer  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  the  river  was 
first  sighted  by  Alonzo  de  Pineda  in 
1519.  Its  extreme  sources  and  upper 
course  were  discovered  and  studied 
by  later  explorers,  chiefly  School- 
craft  (1832),  Nicollet  (1836),  and 
Brower  (1889). 

The  exploration  of  the  Great 
Lakes  was  distributed  over  many 
years.  The  pioneers  who  chopped 
their  way  through  the  forests  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  or 
opened  farms  in  spite  of  Indian  foes, 
in  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Ohio, 
the  trappers  and  hunters  spread 
over  the  western  plains,  the  gold 
diggers  who  rushed  to  California,  all 
added  immensely  to  early  knowledge 
of  the  United  States. 

In  regions  that  have  had  from 
early  time,  comparatively  dense  pop- 
ulation and  rapid  growth  in  civi- 
lization, we  hear  little  of  such  re- 
search as  that,  for  example,  which 
has  gridironed  Africa  with  explor- 
ers' routes.  Communities,  such  as 
Greece,  Rome,  China  and  Japan,  as 
they  grew  in  intellectual  power,  be- 
came intense  students  of  their  own 
habitat;  and  their  armies,  invading 
less  fortunate  lands,  were  the  chief 
instrument  of  pioneer  discovery.  No 
large  events  in  exploration  have 
been  possible  in  Europe  within  the 
Columbian  era.  Among  the  most 
important  discoveries  in  Asia  have 
been  these:  Deshnev  rounded  the 
East  Cape  (Cape  Deshnev)  in  1645, 
and  thus  made  known  the  most  east- 
ern extension  of  the  continent.  Rus- 
sia began  the  scientific  exploration 
of  Siberia  in  1725  and,  in  the  next 
twenty  years,  the  northern  coasts 
were  fairly  well  determined  and  a 
foundation  was  laid  for  the  detailed 
study  of  the  land  surface,  fauna 
flora  and  inhabitants.  Bering  (1725- 
41)  showed  the  relation  between  the 
northeast  coast  of  Asia  and  the 
northwest  coast  of  America.  In  the 
past  fifty  years,  the  great  plains  and 


forests  have  been  studied,  the  Lena, 
Yenesei  and  Ob,  three  of  the  largest 
rivers  in  the  world,  have  been  ex- 
plored and  the  Yenesei  and  Ob  have 
irregular  steamship  connections 
with  European  ports.  One  result 
of  the  study  of  Siberia  is  that  over 
20,000,000  acres  are  now  under  the 
plow. 

Tibet,  so  long  a  terra  incognita, 
has  been  largely  revealed,  chiefly 
since  1863,  by  many  explorers.  The 
Himalayas  have  long  been  in  pro- 
cess of  detailed  study  by  the  Indian 
Survey,  and  India  has  been  min- 
utely mapped. 

Australia  was  probably  first  seen 
about  1540  by  French  sailors,  but 
it  was  early  in  the  next  century  that 
the  Dutch  brought  the  first  authen- 
tic accounts  of  parts  of  the  west 
coast.  Capt.  James  Cook's  voyage 
(1769-70),  when  he  surveyed  the 
whole  east  coast,  made  the  first  great 
contribution  to  knowledge  of  the 
continent.  Inland  exploration  did 
not  begin  till  the  early  part  of  the 
19th  century.  Attempts  to  pene- 
trate the  dry  or  desert  regions  of 
the  interior  with  horses  involved  a 
number  of  tragedies,  including  the 
disappearance  of  the  second  Leich- 
ardt  expedition  (1847).  Leichardt 
set  out  to  cross  the  continent  from 
east  to  west  and  was  never  heard 
from  after  he  entered  the  desert. 
Not  even  in  polar  lands  was  explora- 
tion so  hazardous  as  in  Australia 
till  the  camel  was  introduced  about 
1865;  then  exploration  advanced 
more  rapidly  and  Australia  is  now 
known  in  all  its  chief  configurations 
and  conditions. 

The  attempt  to  reveal  the  whole  of 
Africa  did  not  begin  till  Dr.  David 
Livingstone  (1841-73)  completed  his 
great  work.  The  exploration  of  the 
continent  was  greatly  retarded  by 
the  difficulties  of  getting  into  it, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  indentations, 
the  high  coasts,  rivers  reaching  the 
sea  by  cataracts  and  rapids,  the  un- 
favorable climate  and  a  host  of  hos- 
tile native  tribes.  The  modern  era 
of  African  exploration  began  when 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


ROCKY  MT& 

I  Mt.  Logan. 

Bering        I    19'539  Greenwich  0«  Meridian^ 

0  -    ,    _A^I  "'"* —  »""'•""•"  OCEAN 

N."X  M  E  R  I  C  A 


SJ..O 


SEA  LEVEC  0 


SEA  LEVEL  45 


THE  ANDES 
PACIFIC     OCEAN  L  ATLANTIC  OCEAN 


ANTARCTIC     O  C  E  A  N  Shetland* 


Greenwich  0°  Meridian^ 


Along  Different  Parallels  of  Latitude  Round  the  Globe 

Vertical  Scale  Exaggerated  260  Times 

PROFILE  OF  LAND  AND  SEA 


PROGRESS  OF  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISCO  VERY 


^reenwich  0"  Meridian 

Hardanger  Bering  - 

Field  B0iti«  S««  Ural  Mts.  Stanovoi  Mts.      .  Sea  . 


60°5EA  LEVEL 


30°SEA  LEVEL 


Sowaira  Rtd  Jeb  Hadhur 


Mt-c°Pr*     .      Philippine 


.    ni.vvpia  Philippine  -ilOO 

W.  Ghats  Ba* of  I  China  is  Ladrone  .     FEE 


-15.000 

Southern  Alps-,  10. 000  FATHOMS. 

FEET 


4. 000  FATHOMS 
20.000 
FEET 


Oc  SEA  LEVEI 


15°   SEA  LEVEL 


Greenwich  0°  Meridian 


Along  Different  Parallels  of  Latitude  Round  the  Gl«be 

Horizontal  Scale  1:150,000,000 
PROFILE  OF  LAND  AND  SEA 


8 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Mungo  Park  made  his  journeys  in 
the  basin  of  the  Niger  River  (1795- 
1806).  During  the  next  forty  years, 
a  few  explorers  crossed  the  Sahara 
and  studied  the  western  and  central 
Sudan;  and  finally  Dr.  Livingstone 
gave  thirty  years  of  his  life  to  many 
journeys  of  exploration  in  south- 
central  Africa.  He  did  not  live  to 
see  the  great  effect  of  his  work ;  but 
soon  after  his  death  (1873)  the 
greatest  exploratory  movement  ever 
seen  began  in  Africa.  Scores  of  ex- 
peditions carried  on  field  studies  that 
finally  extended  over  nearly  all  of 
Africa  south  of  the  Sahara ;  and  sev- 
en European  nations — Great  Britain, 
France,  Belgium,  Germany,  Italy, 
Spain  and  Portugal — were  finally  in 
possession  of  the  whole  of  Africa 
excepting  Abyssinia  and  Liberia. 
Intensive  studies  of  the  various  col- 
onies began  in  the  last  years  of  the 
19th  century  and  continued  till  the 
war  of  1914,  when  the  entire  work 
of  development  practically  ceased. 
Africa,  the  last  continent  to  be 
largely  explored,  has  thus  made  far 
greater  progress,  in  the  short  period 
of  a  generation,  than  any  of  its  sis- 
ter continents  when  they  were  in  the 
same  low  stage  of  development. 

Polar  exploration  began  with  the 
development  of  the  whaling  and 
fishing  industries  and  the  hunt  for 
walrus,  seal,  etc.,  in  the  cold  regions. 
Nearly  58,000  Greenland  whales 
were  killed  in  Spitzbergen  waters 
in  a  little  over  a  century,  beginning 
in  1670.  The  search  for  the  North- 
west Passage  to  Asia  also  led  into 
the  Arctic  as,  for  example,  Davis's 
voyage  up  Baffin  Bay.  Then  the 
quest  for  the  North  Pole  engaged 
expeditions  for  many  years;  and 
finally,  not  a  few  parties  were 
specially  equipped  to  seek  for  facts 
about  polar  phenomena.  Thus  many 
polar  lands  have  been  discovered, 
depths  of  the  polar  seas  have  been 
ascertained  in  wide  areas,  the  Arctic 
natives  have  been  studied  and  the 
art  of  living  and  traveling  in  the 
frigid  zones  has  been  far  advanced. 
The  investigation  of  the  position  of 


the  north  and  south  magnetic  poles 
appears  to  show  that  they  are  not 
fixed  points  but  move  in  areas  of 
considerable  extent.  The  attainment 
of  the  geographical  North  Pole  was 
made  by  Peary  on  April  6,  1909; 
and  of  the  South  Pole  by  Amund- 
sen on  December  14,  1911,  and  by 
Scott  on  January  18,  1912. 

The  most  notable  discovery  in 
many  years  is  the  fact  that  a  high 
continent  surrounds  the  South  Pole. 
The  area  of  the  land  surface  is  ap- 
proximately 5,460,000  square  miles, 
or  nearly  one  and  a  half  times  the 


Copyright  by  Harris  &   Ewing 


REAR  ADMIRAL  PEARY,  DISCOVERER 
OF  THE  NORTH  POLE 


size  of  Europe.  It  is  computed  that 
its  mean  height  is  6,500  feet,  or 
nearly  seven  times  the  mean  eleva- 
tion of  Europe. 

The  great  world  sea  has  been  so 
well  explored  that  probably  few  isl- 
ands have  escaped  attention  except, 
it  may  be,  in  the  polar  areas. 


PROGRESS    OF    GEOGRAPHICAL    DISCOVERY 


11 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY 


Date 

Explorer  and  Nationality. 

Discovery  or  Exploration 

B.  C. 

1400-1250 

Egyptians  

Invasions  of  Habesh,  Arabia,  Phoenicia,  Syria. 

?  1350 
1000 

Greeks  
Phoenicians  

Argonautic  expedition  to  Colchis. 
Voyages  to  Ophir,  Gades,  Britain. 

750 

700 
600 

Greeks  

Samians  
Phoenicians  

Extension  of  Colonies  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
Pontus  Euxinus. 
Spain  (Tartessus)  discovered  for  the  Greeks. 
Circumnavigation  of  Africa  by  order  of  Necho. 

500 
500 

Himilco  (Carthag.)  .... 

Anaxiraander  (of  Mil-    f 
etus)  \ 

Atlantic  coasts  of  Europe.     Sargasso  Sea.      Said 
to  have  visited  Britain. 

Makes  the  first  maps. 

500 
470 
330 
330 
339-323 
290 

Hecatseus  (of  Miletus)  .  . 
Hanno  (Carthag.)  
Pytheas  of  Massilia.  .    . 
Nearchus  (Macedon.)    . 
Alexander  the  Great.  •    . 
Egyptians.  

Writes  the  first  geography. 
West  Africa  as  far  as  Cape  Palmas. 
?  Thule,  North  Sea,  Scandinavia. 
Sails  from  the  Indus  to  Red  Sea. 
Expedition  to  Iran,  Turan,  and  India. 
Navigate  the  East  coast  of  Africa. 

218 
about  120 
61-58 

Carthaginian  
Eudoxus  of  Cyzicus  .... 
Romans  

Hannibal  crosses  the  Alps. 
Attempts  circumnavigation  of  Africa. 
Julius  Caesar  in  Gaul,  Germany,  and  Britain. 

since  30 

Romans  

Extension  of  geographical  knowledge  and  com- 

20 

Strabo  (Greek) 

merce  as  far  as  Central  Asia. 
Describes   Roman   Empire    and  first  mentioned 

15 

Romans 

Thule  and  Ireland. 
Tiberius    discovers    the    Lake    of    Constance; 

A.  D. 

Romans 

Drusus,  the  Brenner  Pass. 
Agricola  circumnavigates  Britain. 

84 
150 

Claudius  Ptolemy          I 
(Egypt.)                         f 

Constructs  his  Geography  and  Atlas. 

518-21 
671-95 
861 
865 

876 

985 
?  1000 

1154 
about  1200 

Hoei-sing  (Chinese)  .... 
1-tsing  (Chinese)  
Norsemen  
Naddod  (Norse)  

Gunnbjorn  (Norse)  .... 

Erik  the  Red  (Norse)  .  . 
Lyef  Erikson  (son  of  \ 
Erik  the  Red)  / 

Edrisi  (Sicily)  
Arabs  

Visits  Pamirs  and  Punjab. 
Visits  Java,  Sumatra,  and  India. 
Faroe  Islands.     North  Cape  of  Europe  rounded. 
Discovers  Iceland.     Visited  by  Irish  monks  about 
795. 
Greenland  coast.     Rediscovered  by  Erik  the  Red 
(983). 
Colonizes  Greenland. 
Discovers  Newfoundland  (Helluland),  Nova  Sco- 
tia  (Markland),   and  coast  of  New  England 
(Vinland)  [?]. 
Geographer  to  King  of  Sicily,  produces  his  geog- 
raphy. 
Trading  merchants  discover  Siberia. 

1253 

R  u  y  sbroek 

Reaches   Karakorum,    the   ancient   seat    of  the 

1271-95 
1290 

Marco  Polo  (Venet.)  .  .  . 
Genoese  

Mongol  Empire. 
Travels  in  Central  Asia,  China,  India,  Persia. 
Canaries,  Azores,  etc. 

1325-52 

1327 
1415-60 

1419-20 

1442 
?  1460 
1474 

Ibn  Batuta  (Arab.)  .... 

Sir  John  Mandeville   \ 
(Eng.)  / 
Prince  Henry  (Port.)..  . 

J.  Gonzales  and  Mar-   \ 
tin  Vaz  (Port.)  / 
Nuno  Tristao  (Port.)..  . 
Cintra  and  Costa  (Port.) 
Toscanelli  (Ital.)  . 

Travels  through  the  whole  Mohammedan  World, 
N.  Africa,  E.  Africa,  S.  Russia,  Arabia,  India 
and  China. 

?  Travels  in  India. 
Gives  an  impetus  to  Portuguese  voyages  of  dis- 
covery. 

Porto  Santo  and  Madeira  discovered. 
Cape  Verde,  etc. 
Coast  of  Guinea  reached. 
Sends  Columbus  his  map  showing  the  western 

1485 
1487 

1492-98 
1497-98 

Diego  Cam  (Port.)  
Bartholomew  Diaz         \ 
(Port.)  ] 
Columbus  (Gen.)  
John   Cabot    (Anglo-   \ 
Ven  )                           ) 

route  to  Cathay  (China). 
Mouth  of  the  Congo  reached. 

Rounds  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
America,  West  Indies,  Trinidad,  Cuba,  etc. 
Sails  along  E.  coast  of  America  from  Labrador  as 
far  as  Florida. 

1498 

Vasco  da  Gaina.  (Port,) 

Route  to  India  by  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

EGYPT  AND 
BRITISH  EAST  AFRICA  * 

MAURITIUS 


NEW  ZEALAND 


INDIES 


FALKLAND  IS.  BAHAMAS        HONG-KONG  AND 

WEI  HAI-WEI     m 


BRITISH 

GUIANA 


CYPRUS 


TASMANIA. 


BRITISH 
HONDURAS 


JAMAICA  - 
GAMBIA         ASHANTI 


BRITISH  FIJI  ISLANDS          SOLOMON  BRITISH          SIERRA  LEONE     GOLD 

NEW  GUINEA  ISLANDS         NORTH  BORNEO  COAST 


till,  Br  HUN*  I  CO.  INC. 


UNITED  STATES 


Samoa  la. 


West  Indies 


ALASKA 


'••%       PHILIPPINE  IS. 


Hawaiian  Is. 


DUTCH 


HOLLAND 


DUTCH  GUIANA 


GERMAN 
EAST  AFRICA 


Samoa  Is.  .P 

KIAO-CHAU 


PORTUGUESE 


PORTUGUESE 
PORTUGAL  GUINEA 


TIM<>R 


Azores 


Madeira 


ANGOLA  LAND 


GOA  Cape  Verde  Is. 


PORTUGUESE 
EAST  AFRICA 


GERMAN  POSSESSIONS 
Prior  to  the  Great  War 


GERMANY  KAISER  WILHELM 


\ 


NEW  CALEDONIA 


Tahiti 


Reunion 
FR.  INDO-CHINA  FR.  GUIANA    MADAGASCAR 


Other  Countries  and  their  Possessions. 


14 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


THE  PROGRESS  OF   DISCOVERY— Continued 


Date 

Explorer  and  Nationality 

Discovery  or  Exploration 

1499 

Amerigo  Vespucci  (ItaU 

Claimed  to  have  discovered  Venezuela   (which 

Columbus  had  already  seen  from  the  island  of 

Trinidad).     His  testimony  as  to  his  three  al- 

leged voyages  is  regarded  as  untrustworthy. 

1499 

Pinzon,  V.  Y.  (Span.).. 

Discovered  mouth  of  R.  Amazon  and  Cape  St. 

Roque. 

1500 

Gaspar     Corte     Real   1 

Reaches  entrance  of  Hudson  Strait,  called  by  him 

(Port.)  / 

Strait  of  Anian.     Rediscovered  Greenland. 

1500 

Alvarez  Cabral  (Port.)  . 

Brazil  (named  by  him  Ilha  da  Vera  Cruz,  being 

S.  part  of  Bahia  State). 

1502 

ColumbuS  (Gen.)  

Central  America  on  his  fourth  voyage. 

1512 

Ponce  de  Leon  (Span.)  . 

Florida. 

1513 

Portuguese 

Reach  the  Moluccas. 

1513 

Balboa  (Span.)  

Crosses  Isthmus  of  Panama  and  discovers  Pacific 

Ocean. 

1516 

De  Solis  (Span.)  

Reaches  La  Plata. 

1517 

Sebastian  Cabot  (Eng.) 

Hudson  Strait. 

1519-21 

Cortez  (Span.)  

Conquest  of  Mexico. 

1519-21 

Magellan  (Span.)  

First    to    circumnavigate    the    globe.       Passes 

through  the  Strait  of  Magellan,   crosses  the 

Pacific,  and  discovers  the  Philippines. 

1534 

Pizarro  (Span.)  

Completes  the  Conquest  of  Peru. 

1535 
1535-42 

Diego  d'Almagro(Span. 
Jacques  Car  tier  (Fr.)..  . 

Conquers  Chili. 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     Ascends  river  to  Hoche- 

. 

laga  (Montreal). 

1539 

Francesco    de    Ulloa   \ 
(Span.)  / 

Explores  Gulf  of  California. 

about  1540 

French  

Continent  of  Australia  seen  by  French  sailors. 

1541 

Pizarro  and  Orellana   \ 
(Span  )                        / 

Amazon  River. 

1542 

Antonio  de  Mota  

First  reaches  Japan. 

1542 

Ruy  Lopez  de  Villa-    \ 

Discovers  Pelew  Islands,  and  takes  possession  of 

lobos  (Span.)  / 

Philippine  Islands  for  Spain. 

1542 

Pinto  (Port.)  .  . 

Visits  Japan. 

1553 

SirH.  Willoughby  (Eng.) 

Novaya  Zemlia. 

1576 

Frobisher  (Eng  ) 

Labrador  and  Baffin  Land. 

1577-80 

Sir  F.  Drake  (Eng.)  

Second  circumnavigation  of  the  globe,  and  first 

saw  Cape  Horn.     Explored  W.   coast  of  N. 

America  nearly  as  far  as  Vancouver  Archi- 

pelago. 

1587 
1594-97 

J.  Davis  (Eng.)  
Barents  (Dut.)  

Davis  Strait. 
Spitzbergen,  Bear  Islands,  etc. 

1595 
1606 

Mendana  (Span.)  
Quiros  (Span.)  

Discovers  Marquesas  Islands. 
Tahiti  (Sagittaria)  and  other  South  Sea  Islands. 

1606 

Torres  (Span.)  

Torres  Strait.     Dutch  reach  Australia. 

1608 

Champlain  (French)  .  .  . 

Discovers  Lake  Ontario. 

1610 

H.  Hudson  (Eng.)  

Hudson  Bay  and  discoveries  in  N.  America. 

1614-17 
1616 

Spilbergen  (Dut.)  
W.  Baffin  (Eng.)  

Circumnavigation  of  the  globe. 
Enters  Baffin  Bay. 

1616 

LeMaire  and  Schou-    1 
ten  (Dut.)  / 

Round  Cape  Horn. 

1616 

Dirk  Hartog  (Dut.)  

West  coast  of  Australia. 

1618 

G.    Thompson    (Eng.    \ 
merchant.)  / 

Sails  up  Gambia. 

1642 

Abel  Tasman  (Dut.)  .  .  . 

Van  Dieme'n's  Land  (Tasmania)  and  New  Zealand. 

1643 
1645 

Vries  (Dut.)  
Deshnev  (Cossack)  .... 

Explores  E.  coast  Japan,  Saghalien,  and  Kurile  Is. 
Rounds  East  Cape  of  Asia  fi  om  the  Kolyma  to  the 

Anadyr. 

1660 

French  

Lake  region  of  the  St.  Lawrence  discovered. 

1673 

Maiquette  and  Joliet   \ 
(Fr.)  / 

Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  north. 

1725-43 

Russians  .         

Exploration  of  the  coasts  of  Siberia. 

1728  and  '41 

Bering     (Dan.)     and   \ 
Tishirikov  (Rus.)..    / 

Bering  Strait  and  the  NW.  coast  of  America. 

1764-66 

Bvron  (EnK.)  .  . 

Circumnavigation  of  the  zlobe. 

PROGRESS    OF    GEOGRAPHICAL    DISCOVERY 


15 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY — Continued 


Date 

Explorer  and  Nationality 

Discovery  or  Exploration 

1768-79 

1770 
1770 

1785-88 
1789 
1792 

1795-1806 
1799-1858 

Capt.  Cook  (Eng.)  

James  Bruce  (Scot.)  .  .  . 
Liakhov  (Russian)  
La  Perouse  (French)  .  .  . 
A.  Mackenzie  (Scot.)- 
Vancouver  (Eng.)  

Mungo  Park  (Scot.)  .  .  . 
Alex,  von  Humboldt   \ 
(Ger.)  / 

Voyages  round  the  world.     Hydrographical  sur- 
veys of  the  Society  Islands,  Sandwich  Islands, 
E.  coast  of  Australia,  Cook  Strait  in  New  Zea- 
land, Antarctic  Ocean,  N.W.  coast  of  America, 
etc. 
Sources  of  the  Blue  Nile. 
Discovers  New  Siberian  Islands. 
North  of  Japan,  Saghalien,  etc. 
Exploration  of  the  Mackenzie  River. 
Vancouver  Island  circumnavigated.     Discovered 
by  Perez,  1774.    Exploration  of  NW.  coast  of 
America. 
Journeys  and  explorations  in  the  Niger  district. 
Explorations  in  South  America  and  publication 
of  "  Kosmos." 

1801-1804 
1803-6 

1805  9 

Flinders  (Eng.)  
Krusenstern  (Rus.)  .... 

Salt  (Eng  ) 

Southern  coasts  of  Australia. 
Surveys  in  Sea  of  Japan  and  Sea  of  Okhotsch, 
Saghalien,  etc. 
Visit  to  Abyssinia 

1807-8 
1819 
1819 
1825 

Klaproth  (Ger.)  
Sir  E.  Parry  (Eng.).  .  .  . 
Sir  J.  Franklin  ) 
Richardson  and  Back    \ 
(Eng.)  ] 

Exploration  of  the  Caucasus. 
Parry  Archipelago. 

Coppermine  and  JUIackenzie  Rivers  explored. 

1819 
1819 

1819-20 

1821 

Long  (U.  S.)  
Wm.  Smith  (Eng.)  

Bellingshausen  
Capt.  King  

Exploration  of  Rocky  Mountains. 
South  Orkney  Islands  and  South  Shetlands.    Vis- 
ited by  Weddell  in  1822. 
Discovered  new  Antarctic  Islands. 
Explorations  in  Western  Australia. 

1823 
1823 

1823 
1825-26 
1827-8 

1829 

1830-32 
1830 
1831 
1832 

Wrangel  (Rus.)  
Denham    and    Clap-    1 
perton  (Eng.)  / 
James  Weddell  (Brit.). 
A.  G.  Laing  (Scot.)  .... 
Ren6  Caillie  (French)  .  . 

Sturt  (Eng.)  
Biscoe  (Eng.)  

Sir  J.'  C.  Ross  (Eng.)'.  !  ! 
Laird    and    Oldfield   \ 
(Scot  )                          / 

Discovers  Wrangel  Island. 
Lake  Chad. 
Explored  Weddell  Sea. 
Reached  Timbuktu  from  Tripoli. 
Journey  from  Kakundi  to    Timbuktu  and  Mo- 
rocco. 
Descends  the  Murrumbidgee  and  discovers  the 
Murray  River. 
Enderby  Land  and  Graham  Land. 
Royal  Geographical  Society  founded  in  London. 
Magnetic  North  Pole. 

Exploration  of  the  Niger  and  Benu6. 

1833-35 
1835 

1837 

Sir  G.  Back  (Eng.)  .... 
SirM.R.Schomburgk    \ 
(Ger.)  I 
Wood  (Eng  ) 

Great  Fish  River,  Canada. 
Explorations  in  Guiana. 
Discovered  a  source  of  the  Oxus. 

1837-40 
1839 
1839-40 

1  839-40 

John  d'Urville  (French) 
J.  Balleny  (Eng.)  
Eyre  (Eng.)  

Lieut.  Charles  Wilkes    \ 

(US)                            / 

Adelie  Land.     Reached  66°  30'  S.  lat. 
Balleny  Islands,  66°  44'  S.  lat. 
Discovers  Lake  Torrens,  S.  Australia,  and  in  1841 
journeys  from  Adelaide  to  King  George's  Sound. 

Discovery  of  the  Antarctic  Continent. 

1840 
1841 
1841-73 
1844-48 

1845 
1848 
1849-55 

Triimmer  
Sir  James  C.  Ross  (Eng.) 
D.  Livingstone  (Scot.).. 
Leichhardt  (Ger.)  

Sir  John  Franklin  (Eng.) 
RebmannandKrapf(Ger  ) 
Richardson  and  Earth   1 
(Eng.-Ger.)  1 

Remains  of  ancient  Nineveh. 
Victoria-  Land,  with  volcanoes  Erebus  and  Terror. 
Thirty  years'  travel  in  Central  South  Africa. 
Crosses  Australia,  Moreton  Bay  to  Port  Essing- 
ton. 
Sails  on  his  last  voyage  never  to  return. 
Mt.  Kilima  Njaro.     Sighted  Mt.  Kenia. 

Western  Sudan  and  Sahara. 

1850 
1852-4,  1861 

1855-59 
1863-65 
1858 
1858 

Sir  R.  M'Clure  (Irish).. 
Sir  C.   R.   Markham   \ 
(Eng.)  ) 

{DU  Chaillu  (French)  .  . 
Sir  R.  Burton  (Scot.)..  . 
Speke  and  Grant  (Brit.) 

Northwest  Passage. 
Explorations  in  Peru. 

Basin  of  Ogow6  River,  W.  Africa. 
Lake  Tanganyika. 
Victoria  Nyanza. 

16 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 
THE  PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY— Continued 


Date 

Explorer  and  Nationality 

Discovery  or  Exploration 

1860 

1861 
1862 
1862-63 
1864 

Sir  S.  Baker  (Eng.)  .... 

Burke  and  Wills  
M'Douall  Stuart  (Scot.) 
W.  G.  Palgrave  (Eng.). 
A.    E.    Nordenskiold   \ 

(Swedish)                    / 

Explores  Upper  Nile.    Discovers  Albert  Nyanza, 

Crossed  Australia. 
Crossed  Australia. 
Journeys  in  Central  and  Eastern  Arabia. 

Spitzbergen. 

1864-66 

1867-72 
1868-71 

1869 

1870-1886 
1872 

1872-76 

G.  Rohlfs  (Ger.)  

Richthofen  (Ger.)  
G.  Schweinfurth  (Ger.). 

G.  Nachtigal  (Ger.)  

Prejevalsky  (Rus.)  
Payer  and  Weyprecht   \ 
(Austrian)  / 
"Challenger"  Expedi-   1 
tion  (Brit.)  / 

Journeys  in  W.  Sudan  by  Ghadames,  Murzuk, 
and  Wadai  to  R.  Niger. 
Extensive  travel  and  exploration  in  China. 
Exploration  of  the  Jur,  Niam-Niam,  and  Mon- 
buttu  countries  in  Africa. 
Explorations  in  Lake  Chad  region  and  Central 
Sudan  States. 
Journeys  in  Mongolia,  Tibet,  etc. 

Discovered  Franz  Josef  Land. 
Explores  the  depths  of  the  oceans. 

1872-76 

Ernest  Giles 

Traverses  Northwest  Australia 

1873 
1874-75 
1876 
1876-90 

1876 

1877-78 

1878-79 
1878-89 

Warburton  (Irish)  
Lieut.  Cameron  (Eng.). 
De  Breeze  (French)  .... 
H.  M.  Stanley  (Eng.)  .  . 

Sir   Geo.    Nares   and   1 
A.     H.     Markham 

(Eng.)  
Doughty    and    Blunt 
(Brit.)  
Nordenskjold  (Swed.).. 
Thomson  (Scot.)  

Crosses  Western  Australia  from  East  to  West. 
Crosses  Equatorial  Africa. 
Explorations  in  the  Ogowe  and  Gabun  region. 
Congo  Basin  ;  Mt.  Ruwenzori  ;  Forests  qn  the  Aru- 
wimi,  etc. 

Grant  Land.    Penetrated  as  far  N.  as  83°  20'. 
Explorations  in  Northern  Arabia. 

Northeast  passage. 
Journeys   through   Masai   Land,    British   South 

1878-85 
1878-92 
1879 

Major     Serpa    Pinto   \ 
(Port.)  / 
Emin  Pasha  (Ger.)  .... 

Moustier  and  Zweifel   \ 
(Swiss)  / 

Africa,  Sokoto,  Morocco,  etc. 
Twice  crosses  Africa.. 
Travels  and  Surveys  in  Equatorial  Africa.     Dis- 
covery of  Semliki  River,  etc. 

Sources  of  the  Niger. 

1879 

1881-82 

Lieut.  Schwatka  (U.  S.) 
Leigh  Smith  

Recovered  Franklin  relics. 
Explored  S.  coast  of  Franz  Josef  Land. 

1881-85 

Greely  (U.  S.) 

Grinnell  Land  and  NW.  coast  of  Greenland 

1885 
1885 
1886-1909 

1887 

Wissmann  (Ger.)  
Junker  (Rus.-Ger.)  .... 
Peary  (U.  S.)  

Capt.  Younghusband   \ 
(Eng.)  / 

Across  Africa  from  West  coast,  Congo  Basin. 
Welle-Mobangi,  etc. 
Six  expeditions  of  exploration  and  North  Pole  at- 
tained on  April  6,  1909. 

Travels  from  Pekin  to  Kashmir. 

1887 
1888-1900 
1890-02 

1892 
1893-96 

Hans  Meyer  (Ger.)  .... 
F.  Foureau  (French)  .  .  . 
Col.    P.    F.    Monteil   \ 
(French)  / 
Baron  Toll  (Russ.)  
N  ansen  (Norw.)  

Exploration  of  Mount  Kilimanjaro. 
Explorations  in  the  Sahara. 

Researches  in  the  Sudan  and  Sahara. 
Explorations  in  the  Lena  R. 
Hviotenland,  etc.;  reached  his  "Farthest  North" 

1897 
1893-97 

Jackson  (Scot.)  
Sven  Hedin  (Swed  ) 

.  in  lat.  86°  13'  6"  N. 
Surveys  and  explorations  in  Franz  Josef  Land. 
Explorations  in  North  Central  Asia 

1895-96 
1896-98 

Pr.  Henri  d'Orleans  
Capt.  Marchand 

Travels  in  Tonkin  and  China. 
Travels  from  Upper  Mobangi  to  Fashoda 

1897 
1897 

Andree  (Swed.)  
D    Carnegie 

Attempt  to  cross  over  the  North  Pole  in  a  balloon, 
with  fatal  results. 
Crosses  Western  Australia  from  S   to  N 

1898-99 
1899-1900 
1899-1903 

De  Gerlache  (Belgian).. 

Donaldson    Smith         \ 
(U.S.)  / 
Capt.  Otto  Sverdrup    1 
(Swedish)                    / 

"Belgica,"'  first  ship  to  winter  within  Antarctic 
circle. 

Explorations  in  Abyssinia  and  Brit.  E.  Africa. 
Found  new  islands  W.  of  Parry  Islands. 

1895-1900 

Major  Gibbons  

Explorations  in  Congo  and  Zambezi  headwaters. 

PROGRESS    OF    GEOGRAPHICAL    Dt&COVERY 


17 


THE  PROGRESS  OP  DISCOVERY— Continued 


Date 

Explorer  and  Nationality 

Discovery  or  Exploration 

1900 
1900 
1900-02 

Borchgrevink  (Brit.  Ex.) 
Duke  of  Abruzzi  (Ital.) 
Sven  Hedin  (Swed  ) 

Reached  lat.  78°  50'  S.  via  Victoria  Land. 
Reached  lat.  86°  33'  N.  via  Franz  Josef  Land. 
Explorations  in  Tibet. 

1902-04 

Anglo-Fr.  and  Anglo-   \ 
Ger.  Comms  / 

Surveys  and  discoveries  in  Bornu  and  Kamerun. 

1901-04 
1902-03 

Com.  R.  F.  Scott  (Brit.) 

Prof.  E.  von  Drygal-   \ 
ski  (Ger.)  / 

Explorations  in  Ross  Sea  and  interior  of  Antarctic 
Continent. 

Discovered  Gaussberg  on  Antarctic  Continent. 

1903-04 
1904  and 
1908-10 
1906 

1906-08 
1908-09 
1910-11 
1910-12 

1911-12 
1913 

1906-07 
1909-12 

1912 
1913 

Dr.  W.  S.  Bruce  (Brit.). 
/Dr.    J.    B.    Charcot   \ 
\     (French)  1 
Duke  of  the  Abruzzi   \ 
(Ital.)  / 
Sven  Hedin  (Swedish).. 
Lieut.  Shackleton  (Brit.) 
Amundsen  (Nor.)  
Capt.  R.  F.  Scott(Brit.) 

Filchner  (Ger.)  
Stefansson  (Can.)  

Mylius  Erichsen  
Einar  Mikkelsen  

Knud  Rasmussen  
J.  P.  Koch.  . 

Discovery  of  Coats  Land  in  Weddell  Sea. 
Explorations  along  Graham  Land  Coast  and  W. 
of  it. 

First  ascent  of  Mt.  Ruwenzori. 
Tibet.    Discovered  main  source  of  Brahmaputra. 
Sledge  journey  towards  the  South  Pole. 
Reached  South  Pole,  Dec.  14,  1911. 
Reached  South  Pole,  Jan.  18,  1912  and  perished 
on  return  journey. 
Discovered  Prince  Regent  Leopold  Land,  Jan., 
1912,  on  Antarctic  Continent,  Weddell  Sea. 
Discovered  nev/  land  N.  W.  of  Prince  Patrick 
Island,  Parry  Islands. 
Completed  maps  of  Greenland  Coasts. 
Explorations  in  Greenland  Sea  and  East  Green- 
land. 
Crossed  North  Greenland. 
Crossed  Middle  Greenland. 

1913 
1913-14 

Capt.  B.  A.  Vilkitski... 
Capt    Vilkitski 

Discovered  Nicholas  II  Land  in  the  Arctic. 
Made  the  second  Northeast  Passage. 

1915 

Sir  Ernest  Shackleton  .  . 

Discovered  Caird  Coast  of  the  Antarctic  Con- 
tinent. 

Copyright  United  Newspapers;  Underwood  &  Underwood,   N. 
LOOKING  DOWN  ON  THE  ANTARCTIC  PLATEAU 


Copyright  Edwin  Levick 

"IT    SHINES  FOR    ALL" 

How    the    Statue    of    Liberty    appears    to    the  Alien.      (This    is    not    a    photograph    of    the 

light   itself,    but   a   picture   of   the   sun.  taken  at  6  P.   M.,  from  a  steamship.) 


CHAPTER    II. 


POPULATION 


THE  Thirteenth  Census  of  the 
United    States    was    taken    by 
the  Bureau  of  the  Census  as 
of  April  15,   1910.     The  total  area 
of  enumeration  included  the  United 
States,  the  territories  of  Alaska  and 
Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico.     The  enu- 
meration also  included  persons  sta- 
tioned abroad  in   the  military   and 
naval    service    of    the    Government. 


the  outlying  possessions  of  the  Unit- 
ed States.  Including  the  population 
of  the  Philippines  and  other  posses- 
sions, the  total  population  living 
under  the  American  flag  is  approxi- 
mately as  given  below. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  tt~ 
United  States  Census  Bureau  that 
the  population  of  the  United  States 
and  possessions  on  July  1,  1914, 


POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Territory  Enumerated:    1910 

Gross  area 
(land  and 
water)  in 
square  miles 

Population 

United  States  (with  outlying  possessions)  

3,627,557 

93,402,151 

United  States,  exclusive  of  outlying  possessions 

3  026  789 

91,972,266 

Outlying  possessions 

600  768 

1  429  885 

Alaska  

590,884 

64,356 

Hawaii.       ... 

6  449 

191,909 

Porto  Rico  

3,435 

1,118,012 

Military  and  naval  service  abroad  

55,608    ' 

The  population  returned  for  the 
total  area  of  enumeration  was  93,- 
402,151,  an  increase,  from  1900  to 
1910,  of  20.9  per  cent  for  the  total 
area  of  enumeration  and  21  per  cent 
for  the  United  States,  exclusive  of 
outlying  possessions. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  area 
of  enumeration  does  not  cover  all 


was  109,021,992,  and  that  the  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  on  July 
1,  1915,  was  100,399,318. 


At  the  close  of  the  First  Census, 
in  1790,  the  United  States  comprised 
substantially  the  territory  between 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Missis- 


TOTAL   POPULATION    UNDER    THE    AMERICAN    FLAG, 
Population  of  the  United  States  and  possessions 

Enumerated  at  the  census  of  1910 

Philippine  Islands,  1903 

Guam,  estimated 

Samoa,  estimated 

Panama  Canal  Zone,  estimated 


101,100,100 

93,402,151 

7,635,426 

9,000 

6,100 

50,000 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


20 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


sippi  River  except  Florida,  repre- 
senting a  gross  area  (land  and  wa- 
ter surface)  of  892,135  square  miles. 
The  United  States,  with  its  outlying 
possessions,  now  comprises  a  gross 
area  of  3,743,306  square  miles,  or 
more  than  four  times  the  area  in 
1790.  The  successive  accessions  of 
territory  were  as  given  below. 

DENSITY    OF    POPULATION 

According  to  the  census  of  1910, 
there  were  in  the  United  States,  on 
the  average,  30.9  inhabitants  to  each 


Alaska  had  an  average  density  of 
only  0.1  per  square  mile;  Hawaii, 
29.8;  and  Porto  Rico,  325.5,  or 
greater  than  that  of  any  State  of 
the  United  States  except  Rhode 
Island,  Massachusetts  and  New 
Jersey. 

CENTER    OF    POPULATION 

The  center  of  population  is  often 
understood  to  be  the  point  of  inter- 
section of  a  north  and  south  line 
which  divides  the  population  equal- 
ly, with  an  east  and  west  line  which 


Gross  area 

Gross  area 

Accession 

in  square 

Accession 

in  square 

miles 

miles 

United  States 

3  026  789 

Outlying  possessions 

716  517 

Area  of  U.  S.  in  1790*.  . 
Louisiana  Purchase,  1803  

892,135 
827,987 

Alaska,  1867.  . 
Hawaii,  1898  

'  590,884 
6,449 

Florida,  1819  
Territory  gained  through  treaty 
with  Spain,  1819  

58,666 
13,435 

Philippine  Islands,  1899  
Porto  Rico  1899  
Guam,  1899  

115,026 
8,435 
210 

Texas,  1845  

389,166 

Samoa,  1900  

77 

Oregon,  1846  

286,541 

Panama  Canal  Zone,  1904  

436 

Mexican  Cession,  1848  

529,189 

Gadsden  Purchase,  1853  

29,670 

*Includes  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  not  a  part  of  any  acquisi- 
tion, but  previously  considered  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 


square  mile  of  land  area.  The  rela- 
tive density  of  population  of  each 
State  of  the  United  States  in  1910 
is  best  exhibited  by  the  map  on 
page  22. 

Aside  from  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia there  were  ten  States  in  which 
there  was  in  1910  a  population  per 
square  mile  of  more  than  100,  as 
follows:  Rhode  Island,  508.5  inhabi- 
tants per  square  mile;  Massachu- 
setts, 418.8;  New  Jersey,  337.7; 
Connecticut,  231.3;  New  York, 
191.2;  Pennsylvania,  171.0;  Mary- 
land, 130.3;  Ohio,  117.0;  Delaware, 
103.0;  Illinois,  100.6.  There  were 
16  States  which  had,  on  the  average, 
less  than  18  inhabitants  to  the 
square  mile.  Nevada,  with  0.7  per- 
son per  square  mile,  or  7  persons 
to  10  square  miles,  had  the  lowest 
density. 

Among    the    outlying    possessions 


likewise  divides  it  equally.  This 
point  of  intersection  is,  in  a  certain 
sense,  a  center  of  population;  it  is, 
however,  designated  by  the  Bureau 
of  the  Census  as  the  median  point 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  point  tech- 
nically denned  as  the  center. 

The  character  of  these  two  points 
may  be  made  clear  through  a  physi- 
cal analogy.  If  the  surface  of  the 
United  States  be  considered  as  i 
rigid  plane  without  weight  capable 
of  sustaining  the  population  distri- 
buted thereon,  individuals  being  as- 
sumed to  be  of  equal  weight,  and 
each,  therefore,  to  exert  a  pressure 
on  any  supporting  pivotal  point  di- 
rectly proportional  to  his  distance 
from  the  point,  the  pivotal  point  on 
which  the  plane  balances  would,  of 
course,  be  its  center  of  gravity ;  and 
this  is  the  point  referred  to  by  the 
term  "center  of  population."  In  de- 


POPULATION 


21 


COMPARATIVE  AREA  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES 


UNITED    STATES,    ORIGINAL    AREA    AND    ACQUISITIONS    OF    TERRITORY, 

1790  TO   1910 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


POPULATION   PER   SQUARE   MILE,    BY   STATES 


termining  the  median  point,  distance 
is  not  taken  into  account,  and  the 
location  of  the  units  of  population 
is  considered  only  in  relation  to  the 
intersecting  median  lines — as  being 
north  or  south  of  the  median  paral- 
lel and  east  and  west  of  the  median 
meridian.  Extensive  changes  in  the 
geographic  distribution  of  the  popu- 
lation may  take  place  without  affect- 
ing the  median  point,  whereas  the 
center  of  population  responds  to  the 
slightest  population  change  in  any 
section  of  the  country. 

CENTER    OF    POPULATION 

At  the  time  of  the  First  Census, 
the  center  of  population  was  23 
miles  east  of  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
since  which  time  it  has  moved  stead- 
ily westward.  In  1800  it  was  18 
miles  west  of  Baltimore;  in  1810, 
40  miles  northwest  by  west  from 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  in  1820,  16  miles 
north  of  Woodstock,  Va. ;  in  1830, 
19  miles  west-southwest  of  Moore- 
field,  W.  Va. ;  in  1840,  16  miles  south 
of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va. ;  in  1850,  23 
miles  southwest  of  Parkersburg,  W. 
Va. ;  in  I860,  20  miles  south  of  Chil- 
licothe,  O.;  in  1870,  48  miles  east 


by  north  of  Cincinnati,  O. ;  in  1880, 
8  miles  west  by  south  of  Cincinnati, 
O. ;  in  1890,  20  miles  east  of  Colum- 
bus, Ind. ;  in  1900,  6  miles  southeast 
of  Columbus,  Ind.,  and  finally,  in 
1910,  in  the  city  of  Bloomington, 
Ind.  During  the  120  years  between 
the  First  and  Thirteenth  Census,  the 
center  of  population  has  moved  over 
550  miles  westward,  or  in  other 
words,  from  west  latitude  76  degrees 
11  minutes  12  seconds  to  west  lati- 
tude 86  degrees  32  minutes  20  sec- 
onds. 

MEDIAN    POINT 

As  in  the  case  of  the  center  of 
population,  the  median  point  has  also 
oeen  moving  westward,  but  not  quite 
so  rapidly.  The  exact  location  of 
the  median  point  in  1880  was  16 
miles  nearly  due  west  of  Spring- 
field, O. ;  in  1890,  5  miles  southwest 
of  Greenville,  O. ;  in  1900,  in  Spar- 
tanburg,  Ind.,  and  finally,  in  1910, 
3  miles  south  of  Winchester,  Ind. 

URBAN      AND     RURAL     POPULATION 

The  Census  Bureau  classifies  as 
urban  population  that  residing  in 
cities  and  other  incorporated  places 
of  2,500  inhabitants  or  more,  includ- 


24 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


ing  New  England  towns  of  that 
size.  All  other  population  is  con- 
sidered as  rural. 

In  1880,  of  a  total  population  in 
the  United  States  of  50,155,783, 
there  were  in  municipalities  14,772,- 
438,  or  29.5  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation. In  1890,  this  element  had 
grown  to  22,720,223,  or  36.1  per  cent 
of  the  total  population;  in  1900,  it 
was  30,797,185,  or  40.5  per  cent ;  and 
in  1910,  42,623,383,  or  46.3  per  cent 
of  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States. 

From  1900  to  1910  the  rate  of  in- 
crease for  the  population  of  urban 
areas  was  over  three  times  that  for 
the  population  living  in  rural  ter- 
ritory, the  rates  of  increase  being 
34.8  and  11.2  per  cent  respectively. 

There  were  14  States  in  1910  in 
which  more  than  half  the  population 
was  living  in  territory  classed  as 
urban.  The  greatest  per  cent  urban 
in  any  State  was  Rhode  Island, 
which  had  96.7  per  cent,  while  North 
Dakota,  with  11  per  cent,  had  the 
smallest  proportion  of  its  people 
in  urban  communities. 

There  was  in  every  State  between 
1900  and  1910  an  increase  in  urban 


population,  but  in  six  States — New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Iowa  and  Missouri — there  was  a  de- 
crease in  rural  population.  In  all 
but  two  States — Montana  and  Wyo- 
ming— the  urban  population  in- 
creased faster  than  the  rural  popu- 
lation, and  generally  at  a  much  more 
rapid  rate. 

COLOR     OR     RACE,      NATIVITY      AND 
PARENTAGE 

Of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  in  1910,  81,731,957,  or  88.9 
per  cent,  were  whites;  9,827,763,  or 
10.7  per  cent,  were  negroes;  and 
412,546,  or  four-tenths  of  one  per 
cent,  were  other  colored  races,  in- 
cluding Indians,  Chinese,  Japanese. 
Hindus,  Koreans,  and  others. 

Of  the  total  population,  78,456,380, 
or  85.3  per  cent,  were  native  and 
13,515,886,  or  14.7  per  cent,  foreign 
born,  the  latter  consisting  chiefly 
of  whites. 

The  native  white  population  num- 
bered 68,386,412,  and  constituted 
83.7  per  cent  of  the  white  popula- 
tion and  74.4  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  of  the  country.  The  13,- 
345,545  foreign-born  whites  consti- 


NTJMBER    OF    FAMILIES   PEE    SQUARE    MILE 


26 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


tuted  16.3  per  cent  of  the  white 
population  and  14.5  per  cent  of  the 
total  population. 

Native  whites  of  native  paren- 
tage in  1910  numbered  49,488,575, 
constituting  60.5  per  cent  of  the 
white  population  and  53.8  per  cent 
of  the  total  population.  Native 
whites  of  foreign  parentage  formed 
15.8  per  cent  of  the  white  popula- 
tion and  those  of  mixed  parentage 
7.3  per  cent,  the  corresponding  per- 
centages based  on  the  total  popula- 
tion being  14  and  6.5,  respectively. 


crease  of  the  white  population.  The 
native  white  population  increased 
20!8  per  cent  and  the  foreign-born 
white  30.7  per  cent.  The  increase 
of  negroes  and  Indians,  since  their 
numbers  is  only  slightly  affected  by 
immigration,  or  emigration,  is  essen- 
tially a  natural  increase. 

BLACK    AND    MULATTO   POPULATION 

Of  the  9,827,763  negroes  enumer- 
ated in  1910,  7,777,077  were  returned 
as  black  and  2,050,686  as  mulatto, 
or  20.9  per  cent.  In  1850  the  per- 


I 1  Less  than  I  per  cent. 

ES31to5percen. 

VTTft  S  to  UJ  per  cent. 

ES3  12  J  to  25  per  cent. 

BBS  25  to  37}  per  cent. 

EH  37)  to  SO  per  cent. 

BO!  SO  per  cent  and  over. 

The  heavy  lines  (— )  show  geographic  divisions. 


PEE  CENT  OF  NEGHOES  IN  TOTAL  POPULATION,  BY  STATES 


Of  the  total  increase  of  15,977,691 
in  the  population  of  the  country  be- 
tween 1900  and  1910,  the  whites  con- 
tributed 14,922,761,  the  negroes  993,- 
769,  and  other  races  61,161.  The 
increase  in  the  native  population 
was  12,803,081,  and  that  in  the  for- 
eign-born, 3,174,610,  or  about  one- 
fifth  of  the  total  increase. 

The  percentage  of  increase  for  the 
whites,  22.3,  was  a  little  less  than 
twice  as  high  as  that  for  the  negroes, 
11.2.  This  difference  is  partly  due, 
however,  to  the  direct  or  indirect 
effect  of  immigration  upon  the  in- 


centage  of  mulattoes  was  11.2.  It 
had  advanced  but  little  in.  1870,  be- 
ing only  12  per  cent,  but  since  1870 
the  proportion  of  mulattoes  in  the 
total  negro  population  appears  to 
have  increased  materially,  reaching 
15.2  per  cent  in  1890,  and,  as  given 
above,  20.9  per  cent  in  1910. 

INDIAN,     CHINESE    AND    JAPANESE 
POPULATION 

Since  1890,  the  first  census  to  in- 
clude an  enumeration  of  Indians  in 
Indian  territory  and  on  Indian  reser- 
vations, the  Indian  population  has 


6  8 


8- 


28 


OUR   COUNTRY   AND   ITS   RESOURCES 


f      I'T.PM  than  1,001s 
r?T1  1,000  to  5,000 
B%%!  5,000  to  10,000 
ES3  40,000  to  15,000 
ESS  15,000  to  20,000 
E53  20,000  to  30,000 
(JUT  30.000  and  over. 
The  heavy  lines  (— )  show 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  INDIAN  POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  BY  STATES 


increased  slightly,  being  248,253  in 
1890  and  265,683  in  1910.  During 
the  same  period  the  Chinese  popu- 
lation decreased  from  107,488  in 
1890  to  71,531  in  1910,  while  the 
Japanese  population  increased  from 
2,039  in  1890  to  72,157  in  1910.  There 
were  also  enumerated  in  1910  other 
non-white  races,  consisting,  for  the 
greater  part,  of  Hindus  and  Kore- 
ans, to  the  number  of  3,175. 

PRINCIPAL    CITIES 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  consider 
the  population  of  principal  cities 
with  respect  to  color,  nativity  and 
parentage.  In  only  fourteen  of  the 
fifty  cities  having  a  population  of 
over  100,000  did  native  whites  of 
native  parentage  constitute  as  much 
as  one-half  of  the  total  population. 
The  proportion  exceeded  three-fifths 
in  only  four  cities,  Indianapolis:, 
64.5  per  cent;  Columbus,  64.4  per 
cent ;  Dayton,  62  per  cent,  and  Kan- 
sas City,  61.9  per  cent.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  twenty-two  of  the  cities  of 
this  class,  less  than  one-third  of  the 
population  were  native  whites  of 
native  parentage,  over  two-thirds  in 
all  but  one  of  these  cities  consisting 


of  foreign-born  whites  and  their 
children.  In  Fall  River  only  13.3 
per  cent  of  the  population  were 
native  whites  of  native  parentage. 
In  10  cities  of  100,000  inhabitants, 
or  over,  the  population  was  more 
than  one-third  foreign-born  white, 
namely,  Fall  River,  42.6  per  cent ; 
Lowell,  40.9  per  cent;  New  York, 
40.4  per  cent;  Paterson,  36.1  per 
cent;  Boston,  35.9  per  cent;  Chi- 
cago, 35.7  per  cent;  Bridgeport,  35.5 
per  cent ;  Cleveland,  34.9  per  cent ; 
Providence,  34  per  cent;  and  De- 
troit, 33.6  per  cent. 

The  proportion  of  foreign-born 
whites  was  low  in  all  of  the  south- 
ern cities.  Among  the  northern 
cities  it  was  lowest  in  Indianapolis 
(8.5  per  cent)  and  Columbus  (9  per 
cent).  In  many  of  the  fifty  cities 
having  a  population  of  over  100,000 
the  proportion  of  native  whites  of 
foreign  or  mixed  parentage  was 
nearly  the  same  as  the  proportion 
of  foreign-born  whites.  The  native 
whites  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage 
were  relatively  most  numerous  in 
Milwaukee  (48.8  per  cent)  and  Fall 
River  (43.7  per  cent). 

During  the  decade  1900-1910  the 


POPULATION 
POPULATION    OF    CITIES 

OF   THE 

UNITED    STATES 

Census  of  1910 


Cities  of  over  100,000  population 


Albany,   N.   Y 

Atlanta,    Ga 

Baltimore,    Md 

Birmingham,    Ala... 

Boston,   Mass 

Bridgeport,  Conn 

Buffalo,   N.   Y 

Cambridge,  Mass — 

Chicago,  111 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Cleveland,   Ohio 

Columbus,    Ohio 

Dayton,  Ohio 

Denver,    Colo 

Detroit,  Mich 

Fall  River,  Mass. . . . 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich 


100,253 
154,839 
558,485 
132,685 
670,585 
102,054 
423,715 
104,839 
2,185,283 
364,463 
560,663 
181,548 
.     116,577 
.     213,381 
.    465,766 
.     119,295 
.    112,571 


Indianapolis,  Ind — 
Jersey  City,  N.  J... 
Kansas  City,  Mo.... 
Los  Angeles,  Cal — 

Louisville,  Ky 

Lowell,   Mass 

Memphis,  Tenn 

Milwaukee,  Wis 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Nashville,  Tenn.... 

Newark,   N.  J 

New  Haven,  Conn.. 
New  Orleans,  La... 
New  York,  N.  Y... 

Oakland,    Cal 

Omaha,   Neb 

Paterson,  N.  J 


233,650 
267,779 
248,381 
319,198 
223,928 
106,294 
131,105 
373,857 
301,408 
110,364 
347,469 
133,605 
339,075 
4,766,883 
150,174 
124,096 
125,600 


Philadelphia,  Pa... 

Pittsburgh,   Pa 

Portland,  Ore 

Providence,  R.  I... 

Richmond,   Va 

Rochester,  N.  Y.... 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

St.  Paul,  Minn 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Scranton,  Pa 

Seattle,  Wash 

Spokane,  Wash 

Syracuse,  N.  Y 

Toledo,  Ohio 

Washington,  D.  C.. 
Worcester,   Mass. . . 


.1,549,008 
533,905 
207,214 
224,326 
127,628 
218,149 
687,029 
214,744 
416,912 
129,867 
237,194 
104,402 
137,249 
168,497 
331,069 
145,986 


Cities  of  from  25,000  to  100,000  population 


Akron,  Ohio 

Allentown,  Pa 51,913 

Altoona,  Pa 52,127 

Amsterdam,  N.  Y.....  31,267 
Atlantic  City,   N.  J...  46,150 

Auburn,  N.  Y 34,668 

Augusta,   Ga 41,040 

Aurora,  111 29,807 

Austin,  Tex 29,860 

Battle  Creek,  Mich....  25,267 

Bay  City,  Mich 45,166 

Bayonne,  N.  J 55,545 

Berkeley,  Cal 40,434 

Binghamton,  N.   Y....  48,443 

Bloomington,  111 25,768 

Brockton,  Mass 56,878 

Brookline,   Mass 27,792 

Butte,   Mont 39,165 

Camden,  N.  J 94,538 

Canton,    Ohio 50,217 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa...  32,811 

Charleston,  S.  C 58,833 

Charlotte,  N.  C 34,014 

Chattanooga,  Tenn....  44,604 

Chelsea,    Mass 32,452 

Chester,  Pa 38,537 

Chicopee,   Mass 25,401 

Clinton,  Iowa 25,577 

Colorado  Springs, 

Colo 29,078 

Columbia,  S.  C 26,319 

Council  Bluffs,  Iowa..  29,292 

Covington,  Ky 53,270 

Dallas,  Tex 92,104 

Danville,    111 27,871 

Davenport,   Iowa 43,028 


Decatur,  111 
Des  Moines,  Iowa 
Dubuque,   Iowa 
Duluth,   Minn 
Easton,  Pa 
East  Orange,  N.  J... 
East  St.  Louis,  111... 
El  Paso,   Tex 
Elgin,    111 
Elizabeth,  N.  J 
Elmira,  N.  Y 
Erie,  Pa 
Evansville,  Ind 
Everett,    Mass 
Fitchburg,  Mass 
Flint,    Mich 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind 
Fort  Worth,  Tex 
Galveston,   Tex 
Green  Bay,  Wis 
Hamilton,  Ohio 
Harrisburg,  Pa 
Hartford,  Conn 
Haverhill,    Mass 
Hazleton,    Pa 
Hoboken,  N.  J 
Holyoke,  Mass 
Houston,  Tex 
Huntington,  W.  Va. . 
Jackson,   Mich 
Jacksonville,  Fla 
Jamestown,   N.   Y 
Johnstown,  Pa 
Joliet,  111 
Joplin,   Mo. 
Kalamazoo,  Mich 


.  31,140  Kansas  City,  Kans....  82,331 

.  86,368          Kingston,  N.  Y 25,908 

.  38,494          Knoxville,   Tenn 36,346 

.  78,466          La  Crosse,  Wis 30,417 

.  28,523         Lancaster,    Pa 47,227 

.  34,371          Lansing,   Mich 31,229 

.  58,547          Lawrence,   Mass 85,892 

.  39,279          Lewiston,  Me 26,247 

.  25,976         Lexington,  Ky 35,099 

.  73,409         Lima,    Ohio 30,508 

.  37,176         Lincoln,  Neb 43,973 

.  66,525          Little  Rock,  Ark 45,941 

.  69,647          Lorain,  Ohio 28,883 

.  38,484         Lynchburg,  Va 29,494 

.  37,826          Lynn,   Mass 89,336 

.  38,550          Macon,   Ga 40,665 

.  63,933         McKeesport,   Pa 42,694 

.  73,312          Madison,  Wis 25,531 

.  36,981         Maiden,  Mass 44,404 

.  25,236          Manchester,  N.  H 70,063 

.  35,279         Meriden,  Conn 27,265 

.  64,186         Mobile,  Ala 51,521 

.  98,915         Montgomery,  Ala 38,136 

.  44,115  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y..  30,919 

.  25,452          Muskogee,    Okla 25,278 

.  70,324          Nashua,   N.  H 26,005 

.  5 «,730         Newark,  Ohio 25,404 

.  7h,800  New  Bedford,  Mass...  96,652 

.  31,161  New  Britain,  Conn....  43,916 

.  31,*33          Newburgh,   N.  Y 27,805 

.  57,699         Newcastle,  Pa 36,280 

.  31,297          Newport,    Ky 80,309 

.  55.482          Newport,  R.  1 27,149 

.  34,670  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y...  28,867 

.  32,073         Newton,    Mass 39,806 

.  39,437  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y..  30,445 


30 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Norfolk,  Va 67,452 

Norristown,  Pa 27,875 

Ogden,  Utah 25,580 

Oklahoma  City,  Okla..  64,205 

Orange,  N.  J 29,630 

Oshkosh,  Wis 33,062 

Pasadena,   Cal 30,291 

Passaic,  N.  J 54,773 

Pawtucket,  R.  1 51,622 

Peoria,    111 66,950 

Perth  Amboy,  N.  J....  32,121 

Pittsfield,  Mass 32,121 

Portland,  Me 58,571 

Portsmouth,    Va 33,190 

Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y...  27,936 

Pueblo,   Colo 44,395 

Quincy,  111 36,587 

Quincy,  Mass 32,642 

Racine,   Wis 38,002 

Reading,   Pa 96,071 

Roanoke,  Va 34,874 

Rockford,  111 45,401 

Sacramento,  Cal 44,696 

Saginaw,  Mich 50,510 


St.  Joseph,  Mo 

Salem,  Mass 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

San  Antonio,  Tex 

San  Diego,  Cai 

San  Jose,  Cal 

Savannah,  Ga 

Schenectady,  N.  Y.... 

Sheboygan,   Wis 

Shenandoph,   Pa 

Shreveport,    La 

Sioux  City,  Iowa 

Somerville,   Mass 

South  Bend,  Ind 

South  Omaha,  Neb... 

Springfield,  111 

Springfield,  Mass 

Springfield,  Mo 

Springfield,    Ohio 

Stamford,  Conn 

Superior,  Wis 

Tacoma,  Wash 

Tampa,  Fla 

Taunton,  Mass 


77,403 
43,697 
92,777 
96,614 
39,578 
28,946 
65,064 
72,826 
26,398 
25,774 
28,015 
47,828 
77,236 
53,684 
.  26,259 
.  51,678 
.  88,926 
.  35,201 
.  46,921 
.  25,138 
.  40,384 
.  83,743 
.  37,782 
.  34,259 


Terre  Haute,  Ind 

Topeka,    Kans 

Trenton,  N.  J 

Troy,  N.  Y 

Utica,  N.  Y 

Waco,  Tex 

Waltham,    Mass 

Warwick,   R.   I 

Waterbury,  /Conn 

Waterloo,  Iowa 

Watertown,  N.  Y 

West  Hoboken,  N.  J. 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.... 

Wichita,   Kans 

Wilkes-Barre,    Pa 

Williamsport,  Pa 

Wilmington,  Del 

Wilmington,  N.  C.... 

Woonsocket,   R.   I 

Yonkers,  N.  Y 

York,  Pa 

Youngstown,    Ohio... 
Zanesville,  Ohio 


58,157 
43,684 
96,815 
.  76,813 
.  74,419 
.  26,425 
.  27,834 
.  26,629 
.  73,141 
.  26,693 
.  26,730 
.  35,403 
.  41,641 
.  52,450 
.  67,105 
.  31,860 
.  87,411 
.  25,748 
.  38,12o 
.  79,803 
.  44,750 
.  79,066 
.  28,026 


foreign-born  white  population  in 
New  York  City  advanced  from  1,- 
260,918  to  1,927,703,  an  increase  of 
666,785,  while  native  whites  of  na- 
tive parentage  increased  only  183,- 
841.  In  1910  only  19.3  per  cent  of 
the  city's  population  consisted  of 
native  whites  of  native  parentage. 
Of  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States  approximately  one-twentieth 
is  domiciled  in  New  York  City;  of 
the  native  whites  of  native  paren- 


tage, one-fiftieth;  of  the  native 
whites  of  foreign  or  mixed  paren- 
tage, one-tenth ;  and  of  the  foreign- 
born,  one-seventh. 

Among  the  larger  cities  the  pro- 
portion of  negroes  in  1910  was  high- 
est in  Memphis,  40  per  cent,  followed 
by  Birmingham,  with  39.4  per  cent ; 
Richmond,  36.6  per  cent;  Atlanta, 
33.5  per  cent;  Nashville,  33.1  per 
cent;  Washington,  28.5  per  cent; 
New  Orleans,  26.3  per  cent;  Louis- 


["~l  r  EM  ALES 

MALES  IX  EXCESS. 

E23  Le-.s  than  5  per  cent. 

E2  5  to  10  per  cent. 

B2  10  to  15  per  Cent. 

IH  15  to  20  per  cent. 

•B  20  per  cent  and  over. 

The  heavy  lines  (— )  show  geographic  divisions. 


PROPORTION  OF  MALES  10  FEMALES  IN  THE  TOTAL  POPULATION,  BY  STATES 


65 

I 


I 

5 


32 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ville,  18.1  per  cent;  and  Baltimore, 
15.2  per  cent.  In  no  other  city  of 
over  100,000  inhabitants  did  the  ne- 
gro element  amount  to  one-tenth  of 
the  population.  Classified  according 
to  numbers,  the  following  cities  re- 
turned more  than  50,000  negroes  in 
1910:  Washington,  94,446;  New 
York,  91,709;  New  Orleans,  89,262; 
Baltimore,  84,749;  Philadelphia,  84,- 
459;  Memphis,  52,441;  Birmingham, 
52,305;  and  Atlanta,  51,902. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  POPULATION  BY  SEX 

There  were  in  the  United  States 
in  1910,  47,332,277  males  and  44,- 
639,989  females,  or  106  males  to  each 
100  females. 

The  excess  of  males  in  the  United 
States  is  partly  due  to  extensive  im- 
migration, a  much  larger  proportion 
of  the  immigrants  being  males  than 
females.  In  the  native  white  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States,  how- 
ever, there  is  also  an  excess  of  males 
over  females,  the  ratio  in  1910  being 
102.7  males  to  each  100  females. 

POPULATION  21  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND 
OVER 

Persons  21  years  of  age  and  over 


have  certain  special  legal  rights 
with  reference  to  property,  the  elec- 
tive franchise,  and  other  matters. 
This  class  of  the  population  is  fur- 
ther significant  from  the  social  and 
economic  standpoint,  in  that  it  in- 
cludes the  great  majority  of  bread- 
winners and  also  the  great  majority 
of  married  men  and  women.  From 
the  political  standpoint  particular 
interest  attaches  to  statistics  regard- 
ing males  21  years  of  age  and  over, 
although  in  several  States  women 
of  that  age  also  now  have  the  right 
to  vote  at  all  elections. 

For  the  United  States,  exclusive 
of  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico,  and 
other  outlying  possessions,  the  total 
population  21  years  of  age  and  over 
in  1910  was  51,554,905,  representing 
56.1  per  cent  of  the  total  popula- 
tion of  all  ages.  Of  this  number, 
26,999,151,  or  29.4  per  cent  of  the 
total  population,  were  males,  and 
24,555,754  were  females. 

MALES   OF   MILITIA  AGE 

Men  from  18  to  44  years  of  age, 
inclusive,  are  subject  to  militia  duty 
under  the  laws  of  most  States,  and 


Courtesy  Literary  Digest 

WOMAN'S    SUFFRAGE— DISTRIBUTION    OF    VOTERS 
White   indicates   Suffrage;    dotted,    limited   Suffrage,    and   black,    male   Suffrage   only- 


POPULATION 


represent  substantially  the  theoreti- 
cal fighting  strength  of  the  country 
in  case  of  war.  The  total  number 
of  males  from  18  to  44  years  of  age 
in  1910  was  20,473,684,  representing 
22.3  per  cent  of  the  total  population 
of  the  Country  and  43.3  per  cent  of 
the  total  male  population. 

IMMIGRATION 

Immigration  into  the  United 
States  has  experienced  a  marked 
reduction  as  a  result  of  the  Euro- 
pean war,  dropping  from  a  total  of 
1,218,480  for  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1914,  to  326,700,  and  298,826  for 
the  years  ended  June  30,  1915  and 
1916,  respectively.  This  falling  off 
is  not  of  a  temporary  nature,  but 
is  certain  to  continue  for  many 
years,  even  after  the  close  of  the 
war. 

Of  the  298,826  immigrant  aliens 
admitted  during  the  year  ended 
June  30,  1916,  9,795  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  professions,  45,528  were 
skilled  laborers,  138,737  had  been 
engaged  in  miscellaneous  occupa- 
tions, and  104,766  (including  the 
women  and  children)  reported  no 
occupation.  Of  the  129,765  emigrant 
aliens  departed,  2,097  had  been 
engaged  in  the  professions,  13,874 
were  skilled  laborers,  96,405  had 
been  engaged  in  miscellaneous  occu- 
pations and  17,389  (including  the 
women  and  children)  reported  no 
occupation. 

Eighteen  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  persons  were  de- 
barred during  the  year.  Of  this 
number,  10,383  were  debarred  as 
being  likely  to  become  public 
charges,  1,153  as  having  a  loathsome 
or  dangerous  contagious  disease, 
1,657  as  of  mental  defects  (other 
than  idiots,  imbeciles  and  insane) 
and  2,080  as  being  contract  laborers. 
There  were  2,906  persons  deported 
after  landing,  of  which  number  1,081 
were  deported  because  of  the  possi- 
bility of  becoming  public  charges, 
282  for  insanity,  360  for  having  en- 
tered without  inspection,  114  as 
criminals  and  100  for  loathsome  or 


34 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


OCCUPATIONS 

At  the  Thirteenth  Census  there 
were  38,756,223  persons  ten  years 
of  age  and  over  engaged  in  gainful 
occupations  in  the  United  States,  in- 


total  population  and  53.3  per  cent 
of  the  population  ten  years  of  age 
and  over.  In  the  male  population 
the  gainful  workers  numbered  30,- 
091,564,  which  was  81.3  per  cent  of 


IMMIGRATION  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES,   1910-1916 


Races 

Years  Ended  June  30  — 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

African  (black) 

4,966 
5,508 
8,462 

15,130 
1,770 
39,562 
3,331 

4,911 
13,012 
1,782 
53,498 
15,736 
21,107 
71,380 
39,135 
84,260 
38,382 
30,780 
192,673 
2,798 
19 
22,714 
27,302 
17,760 
61 
128,348 
7,657 
14,199 
17,294 
27,907 
52,037 
24,612 
32,416 
5,837 
900 
6,317 
1,283 
2,244 

1,150 
3,330 

6,721 
3,092 
9,223 

10,222 
1,307 
18,982 
3,914 

4,400 
13,862 
517 
57,258 
9,779 
18,132 
66,471 
37,021 
91,223 
40,246 
30,312 
159,638 
4,575 
8 
17,027 
19,996 
18,784 
12 
71,446 
7,469 
5,311 
18,721 
17,724 
45,859 
25,625 
21,415 
8,068 
1,153 
5,444 
918 
2,248 

1,141 
3,323 

6,759 
5,222 
8,439 

10,657 
1,608 
24,366 
3,155 

3,672 
10,935 
165 
49,689 
6,641 
18,382 
65,343 
31,566 
80,595 
33,922 
26,443 
135,830 
6,172 
33 
14,078 
23,599 
22,001 
3 
85,163 
9,403 
8,329 
22,558 
21,965 
31,601 
20,293 
25,281 
9,070 
1,342 
5,525 
1,336 
2,239 

1,132 
3,660 

6,634 
9,353 
11,091 

9,087 
2,022 
42,499 
3,099 

4,520 
14,507 
188 
55,522 
12,756 
20,652 
80,865 
38,644 
101,330 
37,023 
42,534 
231,613 
8,302 
64 
24,647 
30,610 
10,954 
11 
174,365 
13,566 
13,451 
51,472 
30,588 
38,737 
21,293 
27,234 
9,042 
1,363 
9,210 
2,015 
2,820 

1,171 
3,038 

8,447 
7,785 
9,928 

15,084 
2,354 
37,284 
3,539 

5,149 
12,566 
172 
51,746 
12,805 
18,166 
79,871 
45,881 
138,051 
33,898 
44,802 
251,612 
8,941 
152 
21.  ,584 
44,538 
13,089 
1 
122,657 
9,647 
24,070 
44,957 
36,727 
36,053 
18,997 
25,819 
11,064 
1,544 
9,023 
2,693 
2,558 

1,396 
3,830 

5,660 
932 
1,651 

3,506 
2,469 
1,942 
3,402 

305 
6,675 
82 
38,662 
3,472 
12,636 
20,729 
15,187 
26,497 
23,503 
10,660 
46,557 
8,609 
146 
2,638 
3,604 
10,993 
6 
9,065 
4,376 
1,200 
4,459 
2,933 
24,263 
14,310 
2,069 
5,705 
1,667 
1,767 
273 
1,390 

823 

1,877 

4,576 
964 
642 

3,146 
2,239 
791 
3,442 

114 
6,443 
80 
36,168 
5,649 
19,518 
11,555 
26,792 
15,108 
20,636 
4,905 
33,909 
8,711 
154 
599 
981 
17,198 
5 
4,502 
12,208 
953 
4,858 
1,365 
19,172 
13,515 
577 
9,259 
1,881 
676 
216 
983 

948 
3,388 

Armenian  
Bohemian  and  Moravian 
Bulgarian,  Serbian, 
Montenegrin 

Chinese  

Croatian  and  Slovenian. 
Cuban  

Dalmatian,  Bosnian, 
Herzegovinian 

Dutch  and  Flemish  
East  Indian  
English  

Finnish                

French  

German  
Greek 

Hebrew.  . 

Irish  
Italian  (north) 

Italian  (south)  
Japanese 

Korean  
Lithuanian   ... 

Magyar  

Mexican        

Pacific  Islander  
Polish  
Portuguese 

Roumanian  

Russian                  

Ruthenian  (Russniak)  .  . 
Scandinavian   

Scotch 

Slovak     

Spanish                         .    . 

Spanish  American  

Syrian 

Turkish   . 

Welsh                       

West  Indian  (except 
Cuban)  

Other  peoples  
Total     .    . 

1.041,570 

878,587 

838,172 

1,197,892 

1,218,480 

326,700 

298,826 

eluding  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico, 
and  the  military  and  naval  stations 
abroad.  The  gainful  workers  thus 
formed  41.5  per  cent  of  the  total 
population. 

In  continental  United  States  the 
gainful    workers    numbered    38,167,- 
which  was  41.5  per  cent  of  the 


the  males  ten  years  of  age  and  over. 
In  the  female  population  the  gainful 
workers  numbered  8,075,772,  which 
was  23.4  per  cent  of  all  females  ten 
years  of  age  and  over.  Thus,  in  the 
population  ten  years  of  age  and  over, 
more  than  one-half  of  all  persons, 
over  four-fifths  of  the  males,  but 


POPULATION 


35 


Photo  by  Irving  Underbill 

ELLIS    ISLAND,    AMERICA'S    GREATEST    GATEWAY 


less  than  one-fourth  of  the  females, 
were  gainfully  occupied. 

In  the  States  the  proportion  of  the 
population  ten  years  of  age  and  over 
engaged  in  gainful  occupations  in 
1910  ranged  from  46.9  per  cent  in 
Iowa  to  68  per  cent  in  Mississippi. 
The  States  having  the  smallest  pro- 
portions were  :  Iowa,  46.9  per  cent ; 
Kansas,  47  per  cent ;  Nebraska,  47.7 
per  cent ;  Utah,  47.9  per  cent ;  and 
Indiana  48  per  cent.  The  States 
having  the  largest  proportion  were 
North  Carolina,  60  per  cent;  Geor- 
gia, 61.5  per  cent;  Wyoming,  62.6 
per  cent;  Nevada,  64.3  per  cent; 
Alabama,  64.7  per  cent ;  South  Caro- 


lina, 67.6  per  cent;  and  Mississippi, 
68.7  per  cent.  Except  in  three  States 
— Arizona,  Montana  and  North  Da- 
kota— there  was  an  increase,  from 
1900  to  1910,  in  the  proportion  of 
the  population  ten  years  of  age  and 
over  engaged  in  gainful  occupations. 
The  States  showing  the  largest  in- 
creases were  Alabama,  Arkansas, 
Georgia,  Mississippi,  Nevada,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Texas. 

DEATHS    IN    REGISTRATION    AREA 

The  total  number  of  deaths  re- 
turned from  the  registration  area  of 
the  United  States  for  the  year  1914 
was  898,059.  The  estimated  mid- 


NUMBER   AND   PROPORTION   OF  PERSONS   IN   GENERAL   DIVISIONS   OF 

OCCUPATIONS 


Occupation 

Total 

Per  Cent  of 
Gainful 
Workers 

All  occupations  

38  167  336 

100  0 

Agriculture,  forestry,  and  animal  husbandry 

12,619  203 

33  2 

Extraction  of  minerals  (mining  and  quarrying)  
Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries  
Transportation  

964,824 
10,658,881 
2  637  671 

2.5 
27.9 
6  9 

Trade  

3  614  670 

9  5 

Public  Service  

459  291 

1.2 

Professional  Service  

1  663  569 

4  4 

Domestic  and  Personal  Service  
Clerical  Occupations  

3,772,174 
1,737,053 

9.9 
4.6 

OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


year  population  of  this  area  was 
65,989,295,  or  66.8  per  cent  of  the 
total  population  of  the  United 
States.  The  death  rate  for  the  year 
was  13.6  per  one  thousand  popula- 
tion, the  lowest  on  record  since  the 
establishment  of  the  registration 
area  in  1880,  being  19.8  in  1880, 
19.6  in  1890,  17.6  in  1900,  16.0  in 
1905,  15.0  in  1910  and  14.1  in  1913. 

The  deaths  among  the  white  pop- 
ulation numbered  824,319,  or  917.9 
for  every  thousand  deaths.  Of  this 
number,  605,349  were  native  born; 
327,696  had  both  parents  native; 
203,189  had  one  or  both  parents  for- 
eign born;  and  74,464  of  unknown 
parentage.  Other  deaths  among  the 
white  population  were  207,272  for- 
eign born,  and  11,698  unknown.  The 
deaths  among  the  colored  population, 
numbering  73,740,  or  82.1  for  every 
thousand  deaths,  were  divided  as 
follows:  Negro,  70,429;  Chinese, 
1,018;  Japanese,  904;  Indian,  1,369; 
and  other  colored,  20. 

Of  the  total  number  of  deaths 
491,416  were  males,  and  406,643 
were  females.  The  total  number  of 
deaths  among  children  less  than  one 
year  of  age  was  155,075 ;  of  those 
from  one  to  five  years  of  age,  58,045 ; 
from  five  to  twenty-five,  86,355; 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty,  196,087; 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five,  217,207; 
over  seventy-five,  123,963,  of  which 
467  were  one  hundred  years  of  age 
or  over;  and  of  ages  unknown, 
1,327.  Out  of  every  thousand 
deaths  172.7  occurred  before  the  end 
of  the  first  year  of  life ;  96.2  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-five; 


218.5  between  the  ages  of  twenty- 
five  and  fifty;  307.6  between  the 
ages  of  fifty  and  seventy-five;  and 
138.0  over  seventy-five  years  of  age. 

The  number  of  deaths  in  the  regis- 
tration area  during  1914  from  vari- 
ous causes  were  as  follows:  Ty- 
phoid fever,  10,188;  malaria,  1,477; 
smallpox,  212;  measles,  4,461;  scar- 
let fever,  4,340;  whooping  cough, 
6,816;  diphtheria  and  croup,  11,786; 
influenza,  6,014 ;  other  epidemic  dis- 
eases, 6,125;  tuberculosis,  96,903; 
cancer,  52,420;  diabetes,  10,666; 
diseases  of  the  nervous  system  and 
organs  of  special  sense,  87,614;  dis- 
eases of  the  circulatory  system,  123,- 
901 ;  diseases  of  the  respiratory  sys- 
tem, 104,086;  diseases  of  the  diges- 
tive system,  99,673;  non-venereal 
diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  sys- 
tem, 78,023;  suicide,  10,933;  homi- 
cide, 4,847 ;  and  other  external 
causes,  51,770. 

The  death  rate  per  100,000  of  pop- 
ulation for  the  more  important 
causes  was  as  follows:  Typhoid 
fever,  15.4;  malaria,  2.2;  measles, 
6.8;  scarlet  fever,  6.6;  whooping 
cough,  10.3;  diphtheria  and  croup, 
17.9;  influenza,  9.1;  tuberculosis, 
146.8;  cancer,  79.4;  diabetes,  16.2; 
diseases  of  the  nervous  system  andi 
organs  of  special  sense,  132.8;  dis- 
eases of  the  circulatory  system, 
187.8;  diseases  of  the  respiratory 
system,  157.7;  diseases  of  the  di- 
gestive system,  151.0;  non-venereal 
diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  sys- 
tem, 118.2;  suicide,  16.6;  homicide, 
7.3,  and  other  external  violence, 
78.5. 


CHAPTER    III. 
AGRICULTURE 

By  C.  H.  CLAUDY 


THE  unthinkable  number  is  one 
which  conveys  no  idea  to  the 
mind — a  number  so  large  that 
one  twice  as  large  or  half  as  large 
makes  the  same  impression. 

Such  a  number  measures  the  dol- 
lars which  value  the  agricultural 
production  of  the  United  States  in 
a  year.  To  say  that  the  total  esti- 
mated value  of  all  crops  and  animal 
products  for  the  year  ending  June 


enough,  working  every  minute  of 
every  day  and  every  night,  to  make 
out  deposit  slips  to  put  it  in  a  bank 
in  a  year's  time.  It  represents  a 
hundred  dollars  for  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  country. 
If  the  cost  of  the  Panama  Canal  is 
$500,000,000,  one  year's  crops  would 
build  twenty  such  canals !  If  it 
costs  Europe  $20,000,000  a  day  to 
have  a  war,  then  we  could  finance 


SCENE    ALONG    THE    BRANDYWINE,    SHOWING    TYPICAL    CHESTER    COUNTY    (PA.) 

TOPOGRAPHY 


30,  1915,  is  $10,501,686,375  conveys 
small  impression  of  its  real  worth. 

If  a  man  could  keep  awake 
twenty-four  hours  in  a  day,  and 
could  live  for  a  hundred  years  under 
such  conditions,  he  would  have  to 
spend  during  every  waking  minute 
of  his  life  something  more  than  $199 
to  dispose  of  this  sum  in  the  hun- 
dred years. 

If  the  sum  were  handed  him  in 
$5,000  lots,  he  could  not  write  fast 


it  for  them  for  seventeen  months 
with  the  agricultural  products  of 
one  year. 

AGRICULTURAL    INFORMATION 

It  is,  of  course,  an  impossibility 
to  do  more  than  indicate  the  extent 
of  agriculture  or  its  immense  im- 
portance not  only  to  the  United 
States  but  to  the  world.  Those  who 
wish  particular  facts  of  any  special 
subject  can  obtain  Volume  V.  of  the 


Copyright  by  Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


38 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Census  of  1910,  which  gives  figures 
for  1909  in  927  closely  printed  pages, 
many  tables  and  graphic  drawings, 
or  the  Year  Book  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  which  has  a  number 
of  "graphs"  as  well  as  174  pages 
of  finely  printed  statistics.  Best  of 
all,  however,  for  the  man  interested 
in  some  one  special  phase  of  this 
question  is  the  opportunity  afforded 
him  by  correspondence  with  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture.  Inquiries 
on  any  subject  connected  with  agri- 
culture receive  prompt  attention  in 
Uncle  Sam's  greatest  department 
and  information  to  answer  any  in- 
quiry is  either  on  hand  or  will  be 
obtained  for  any  inquirer. 

GENERAL   STATISTICS 

The  total  area  of  the  United  States 
is  1,903,269,000  acres.  Of  this  46.2 
per  cent  is  productive  land ;  that  is, 
land  which  is  capable  of  being 
turned  into  farm,  grazing  or  tillable 
area,  exclusive  of  any  possible  fu- 
ture engineering  developments  in 
the  reclamation  field  which  may 
make  vast  areas,  now  arid,  agricul- 
tural possibilities. 


Of  this  46.2  per  cent  of  productive 
land,  293,794,000  acres  (1910  census 
figures,  latest  available),  represent- 
ing 15.4  per  cent  of  the  total  area, 
are  under  cultivation. 

Thirty-six  of  the  principal  agri- 
cultural countries  of  the  world  have 
30.5  per  cent  of  their  total  area 
possibly  productive  and  but  8.7  of 
their  total  area  under  production. 
With  a  ratio  of  approximately  one 
to  four  for  the  world,  then,  the 
United  States  has  approximately 
one  to  three  (one-third)  of  its  agri- 
cultural possibilities  developed. 

FUTURE    OF    AGRICULTURE    IN    THE 
UNITED    STATES 

The  United  States,  in  spite  of  its 
showing  in  area  and  its  leadership 
of  the  world  in  the  world's  principal 
crops,  can  by  no  means  be  considered 
to  have  even  begun  to  realize  its 
agricultural  possibilities.  It  can 
triple  its  area  under  cultivation 
with  the  same  methods  and  the 
same  productiveness  and  still  fall 
far  behind  the  averages  of  other 
countries  which  have  been  compelled 
to  make  intensive  agriculture  a 


INCREASE  IN  VALUE  OF  FARM  PRODUCTS 
(BASED  ON  PRICES  AT  THE  FARM) 


Year 

Total,  gross 

Crops 

Animals  and  animal 
products 

Value 

Percent- 
age of 
total 

Value 

Percent- 
age of 
total 

1879  (census)  
1889  (census)  
1897 

$2,212,540,927 
2,460,107,454 
3,960,821,685 
4,338,945,829 
4,717,069,973 
5,009,595,006 
5,302,120,039 
5,594,645,072 
5,887,170,104 
6,121,778,001 
6,273,997,362 
6,764,210,423 
7,487,988,622 
7,890,625,522 
8,558,161,223 
9,037,390,744 
8,819,174,959 
9,342,790,149 
9,849,512,511 
9,894,960,531 
10,501,686,375 

$2,519,082,592 
2,759,569,547 
2,998,704,412 
3,191,941,763 
3,385,179,114 
3,578,416,465 
3,771,653,816 
3,981,675,866 
4,012,652,758 
4,263,134,353 
4,761,111,839 
5,098,292,549 
5,487,161,223 
5,486,373,550 
5,562,058,150 
5,842,220,449 
6,132,758,962 
6,111,684,020 
6,652,288,634 

63.6 
63.6 
63.6 
63.7 
63.8 
64.0 
64.1 
65.0 
64.0 
63.0 
63.6 
64.6 
64.1 
60.7 
63.1 
62.5 
«2.3 
ol.8 
63.3 

$1,441,739,093 
1,579,376,282 
1,718,365,561 
1,817,653,243 
1,916,940,925 
2,016,228,607 
2,115,516,288 
2,140,102,135 
2,261,344,604 
2,501,076,070 
2,726,876,783 
2,792,332,973 
3,071,000,000 
3,551,017,194 
3,257,116,809 
3,500,569,700 
3,716,753,549 
3,783,276,511 
3,849,397,741 

36.4 
36.4 
36.4 
36.3 
36.2 
36.0 
35.9 
35.0 
36.0 
37.0 
36.4 
35.4 
35.9 
39.3 
36.9 
37.5 
37.7 
38.2 
36.7 

1898  
1899  (census)  .  ... 
1900  . 

1901 

1902 

1903  
1904 

1905  
1906 

1907  
1908 

1909  (census)  
1910......    
1911.  . 
1912  
1913 

1914  
1915  estimate)...  . 

40 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


study,  from  the  potato  field  to  the 
orchard,  the  grazing  field  to  the 
wheat  field. 

The  1910  census  gave  10,582,000 
males  as  actively  engaged  in  agri- 
culture in  the  United  States,  35.2 
per  cent  of  males  engaged  in  all 
occupations.  Females  engaged  in 
agriculture  to  the  number  of  1,806,- 
584,  22.4  per  cent  of  all  women  en- 
gaged in  all  occupations.  This 
makes  a  total  of  12,388,623  people 
engaged  in  agriculture,  or  32.5  per 
cent  of  the  people  engaged  in  all 
occupations.  Compare  with  the  fol- 
lowing countries  (percentages  from 
most  recent  figures  obtainable)  : 

Of  the  total  population  there  are 
engaged  in  agriculture  in  Argentina 
23.6  per  cent,  Australia  25.6  per 
cent,  Austria-Hungary  (pre-war)  63 
per  cent,  British  India  67.1  per  cent, 
Canada  39.9  per  cent,  France  (pre- 
war) 42.4  per  cent,  Germany  (pre- 
war) 34.6  per  cent,  Italy  (pre-war) 
58.8  per  cent,  the  Philippines  41.3 
per  cent,  Spain  56.9  per  cent,  Sweden 
52.8  per  cent,  Union  of  South  Africa 
65.1  per  cent,  United  Kingdom  12.4 
per  cent. 


ARGENTINA 
AUSTRALIA 
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

(pre-war) 

BRITISH  INDIES 
CANADA 

FRANCF(Pre-war) 


(Vith  these  figures  in  mind,  and 
not  forgetting  the  possibilities  of 
intensive  cultivation,  which,  as 
shown  in  the  following  statistics  for 
several  commodities,  is  practiced 
abroad  so  effectively  as  greatly  to 
increase  the  yield  per  acre  over 
United  States  figures,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  limit  of  agricultural  devel- 
opment in  this  country  is  so  far 
distant  that  no  man  can  foresee  it. 
Eliminating  all  possibilities  of  in- 
crease of  tillable  area  through  irri- 
gation, and  all  possibilities  of  in- 
crease of  yield  through  modern 
scientific  development,  not  this  nor 
many  future  generations  will  see  the 
ability  of  this  land  to  support  its 
population  from  an  agricultural 
standpoint  reached  or  passed. 

GROWTH 

The  more  than  double  doubling  of 
farm  products  within  one  generation 
is  a  sure  indication  of  the  wonderful 
growth  of  the  United  States.  Pages 
might  be  written  about  it,  but  could 
do  no  more  than  show  what  the  table 
on  page  38  expresses  so  vividly. 


ITALV  (Pre-war-) 

PHILIPPINES 

5PAIN 

SWEDEN 

UNION.OFSAFRICA 

UNITED  KINGDOM 

UNITED  STATES 

PEE  CENT  OF  POPULATION  ENGAGED  IN  AGRICULTURAL  PURSUITS 


42 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


EFFECT    OF    THE    WAR 

The  war  has  had  a  tremendous 
effect  upon  production  of  United 
States  staples  and  their  export.  The 
wheat  production  1915  was  the 
record  for  the  United  States,  greater 
than  any  previous  year  by  128,000,- 
000  bushels.  Exports  of  wheat  and 
wheat  flour  jumped  from  $142,000,- 
000  in  1914  to  $428,000,000  in  1915, 
a  proportion  which  is  considerably 
less  than  the  jump  in  corn,  which 
with  corn  meal  was  from  $7,000,000 
to  over  $39,000,000.  Neither  crop, 
however,  compares  in  its  export 
jump  with  oats.  In  1914  the  United 
States  exported  $1,000,000  worth  and 
in  1915  $57,000,000  worth.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  chronicle,  be- 
cause every  one  knows  that  the  im- 
mense increase  in  exports  of  food 
stuffs  as  well  as  manufactures 
changed  the  status  of  the  balance 
of  trade  for  this  country.  It  is  also 
well  known  how  the  export  of  cotton 
decreased,  the  figures  being  from 
$610,000,000  to  $376,000,000  in  a 
year. 

But  in  spite  of  the  loss  in  cotton 
the  war  has  had  on  the  whole  a 
very  beneficial  effect  upon  American 
agriculture.  Exports  of  wheat  and 
wheat  flour  represented  over  37  per 
cent  of  the  1914  crop,  while  the  usual 
exportation  is  less  than  20  per  cent. 
Farmers  received  an  average  of  79 
cents  per  bushel  for  the  1913  wheat 
crop  and  $1.01  for  the  crop  of  1914, 
an  increase  of  32  cents  per  bushel 
or  an  aggregate  gain  of  approxi- 
mately $196,000,000. 


PRODUCTION  OF  SPECIAL  CROPS 

Because  of  the  vastness  of  the 
subject  it  is  impossible  to  do  more 
than  indicate  here  the  value  and 
extent  of  a  few  of  the  principal 
crops  of  the  United  States.  Unless 
otherwise  stated,  statistics  given  are 
for  1915  and  prices  are  values  at 
the  farm. 

Because  the  United  States  pro- 
duces more  wheat  than  any  other 
country,  and  a  great  deal  more  than 
we  use,  many  people  think  wheat  is 
our  principal  crop.  Such  is  not  the 
case,  corn  being  the  principal  crop 
of  the  United  States. 
Corn 

One  hundred  and  eight  million 
three  hundred  and  twenty-one  thou- 
sand acres  in  the  United  States  are 
under  cultivation  for  the  corn  crop 
of  3,054,535,000  bushels.  As  the 
production  for  all  of  North  America, 
including  Canada,  United  States  and 
Mexico;  Argentina,  Chile  and  Uru- 
guay in  South  America;  Austria- 
Hungary,  Bulgaria,  France,  Italy, 
Portugal  and  Roumania,  Russia, 
Servia,  Spain,  India  (both  British 
and  native  states),  Japan,  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  Algeria,  Egypt  and 
Union  of  South  Africa,  Australia 
and  New  Zealand,  was  but  3,864/ 
279,000  bushels  in  1914,  it  is  easily 
understood  why  the  United  States 
is  the  greatest  corn  producing  coun- 
try in  the  world.  Argentina, '  with 
10,386,000  acres  under  corn  cultiva- 
tion, is  next  in  productive  -ability, 
but  her  total  crop  for  1915  was  but 
338,000,235  bushels. 


PRODUCTION  OP  CORN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  1849-1910 


Year 

Acreage 

Average 
yield  per 
acre 

Production 

Average 
farm  price 
per  bushel 

Farm  Value 

1849   . 

Acres 

Bush. 

Bushels 
592  071  000 

Cents 

Dollars 

1859.  . 

838  793  000 

1869  

760  945  000 

1879.  . 

62,369,000 

28.1 

1,754,592  000 

1889.  . 

72,088,000 

29  4 

2  122  328  000 

1899  

94,914,000 

28.1 

2,666,324  000 

1909  
1915  

98,383,000 
108,321,000 

25.9 
28.2 

2,552,190,000 
3,054,535,000 

57,9 
57.5 

1,477,223,000 
1,755,859,000 

AGRICULTURE 


43 


Wheat 

World  production  of  wheat  is 
4,216,806,000  bushels.  Of  this  the 
United  States  produces  1,011,505,000 
bushels,  more  than  is  grown  even  in 
Russia,  the  yield  of  which  is  esti- 
mated to  be  833,965,000  bushels.  In 
the  United  States  59,898,000  acres 
are  under  cultivation  for  wheat,  an 
increase  of  over  9,000,000  acres  in 
the  past  two  years.  A  remarkable 
fact  in  connection  with  the  world's 
wheat  production  is  that  Germany, 
which  produces  but  160,000,000  bush- 
els of  wheat  in  a  year,  has,  by  an 
average  of  statistics  for  ten  years, 
a  yield  of  30.7  bushels  to  the  acre, 
whereas  the  average  for  the  same 
period  in  the  United  States  is  but 
14.8  bushels.  Hungary  has  an  aver- 
age of  18.1  bushels,  France  20.1  and 
the  United  Kingdom  33.4  bushels. 
Either  land  abroad  is  more  produc- 
tive or  methods  of  farming  are  more 
intensive;  nevertheless  the  United 
States  easily  leads  the  world  in  pro- 
ducing the  raw  material  for  the  staff 
of  life. 

On  a  basis  of  prices  as  on  Decem- 


TAKING   ON   A   CARGO    OF   WHEAT 

ber  1st,  the  value  of  this  wheat  crop 
is  $930,302,000.  Wheat  is  produced 
in  every  State  in  the  Union,  although 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Florida 
and  Louisiana  produce  but  little. 
North  Dakota  is  the  greatest  wheat 
producing  Sate,  yielding  151,970,000 
bushels,  followed  by  Kansas  with 
106,538,000  bushels. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
average  yield  per  acre  in  bushels 


WORLD'S  WHEAT  PRODUCING  AREAS 


44 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Rice  Growing  Anas 
Oata,  Large  Production 
M    Oats,  Small  Production 

I  I"  I  I 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  RICE  &  OATS 


increased  in  1915  to  16.9  bushels 
per  acre,  which  is  considerably 
greater  than  the  smallest  year 
(1911)  yield  average  of  12%  bush- 
els per  acre.  The  1915  yield  per 
acre  was  almost  2  bushels  an  acre 
greater  than  the  average  for  the  10 
years  from  1906  to  1916,  which  was 
exactly  15  bushels  to  the  acre  for 
the  whole  United  States.  It  is  also 
interesting  and  a  little  puzzling  to 
learn  that  the  greatest  yield  of 
wheat  per  acre  comes  from  Vermont, 
not  known  as  a  wheat  producing 
State,  but  the  few  wheat  farms  of 
which  give  an  average  of  30  bushels 
to  the  acre.  The  poorest  wheat  pro- 
ducing State  in  yield  per  acre  is 
Tennessee  with  10%,  followed  by 
South  Carolina  with  10.8  bushels 
per  acre. 

Oats 

Forty  million  seven  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  acres  of  farm  land 
are  under  cultivation  for  oats,  pro- 
ducing 1,540,362,000  bushels.  The 
world's  production  is  estimated  to 
be  in  excess  of  4,700,000,000  bushels. 


Russia  produces  the  second  largest 
amount  with  1,006,983,000  bushels, 
followed  by  Germany  with  650,000.- 
000  bushels.  The  United  States  falls 
far  below  other  countries  in  the 
average  yield  of  oats  per  acre.  The 
average  yield  in  the  United  States 
from  1905  to  1914  was  29.5  bushels 
per  acre.  In  the  same  period  Ger- 
many produced  54,  Hungary  31.5, 
France  31.1  and  the  United  Kingdom 
43.5  bushels  of  oats  per  acre.  The 
total  value  of  the  oats  produced  in 
the  United  States  in  1915  was  $555,- 
569,000. 

Barley 

Unspectacular,  because  compara- 
tively little  known,  is  the  barley 
crop,  yet  the  United  States  has 
7,395,000  acres  devoted  to  its  pro- 
duction, resulting  in  237,009,000 
bushels.  Barley  is  much  more 
largely  grown  and  highly  thought 
of  abroad  than  here.  World  produc- 
tion is  1,542,972,000  bushels,  of 
which  Russia  produces  475,109,000 
bushels,  almost  double  that  of  the 
United  States.  The  value  of  the 


AGRICULTURE 


45 


United   States  barley  crop  is  $122,- 
499,000. 

Rye 

Forty-nine  million  one  hundred 
and  ninety  thousand  bushels  of  rye, 
valued  at  $41,295,000,  grew  on 
2,856,000  acres,  a  small  fraction  of 
the  world's  production  of  1,711,158,- 
000  bushels.  Any  farm  product  in 
the  United  States  worth  less  than 
$50,000,000  for  the  year  is  to  be  con- 
sidered among  the  comparatively 
unimportant  products. 

Buckwheat 

Similarly  buckwheat,  of  which 
806,000  acres  produce  15,769,000 
bushels  at  a  value  of  $12,408,000, 
comes  among  the  unimportant  crops, 
yet  buckwheat,  used  as  it  is  largely 
for  a  breakfast  food,  is  increasing 
in  popularity  in  the  United  States. 
The  value  of  the  product  ten  years 
ago  was  but  $8,565,000;  twenty 
years  ago  it  was  $6,936,000. 

Potatoes 

Although  corn  and  wheat  lead  the 
agricultural  products  of  the  United 


States,  potatoes  are  among  the  most 
commercially  important.  They  af- 
ford one  of  the  most  nutritious  and 
one  of  the  cheapest  foods  for  the 
table  of  rich  and  poor  alike.  A 
failure  in  the  potato  crop  means  dis- 
aster. Three  million  seven  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  acres  are 
devoted  in  the  United  States  exclu- 
sively to  the  production  of  potatoes. 
The  production  is  359,103,000  bush- 
els, a  large  increase  in  the  past  ten 
years,  the  1905  figures  being  260,- 
741,000  bushels.  The  average  farm 
price  per  bushel  is  61.6  cents,  or  a 
total  value  for  the  whole  crop  of 
$221,104,000.  Potatoes  are  among 
the  most  universally  grown  crops  in 
the  United  States,  every  State  pro- 
ducing enough  to  make  a  variation 
in  the  statistics  if  omitted.  Even 
little  Rhode  Island  has  over  5,000 
acres  devoted  to  the  production  of 
the  popular  "spud,"  growing  550,000 
bushels.  Maine  and  New  York  are 
the  two  largest  producers  of  pota- 
toes, both  accounting  for  22,010,000 
bushels.  The  value  of  the  New  York 
crop  is  about  $3,000,000  greater  than 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  MAIZE  &  BARLEV 


OUR    COUNTRY    A;\TD    ITS    RESOURCES 


that  of  the  Maine  crop,  although 
Maine  produces  its  crop  from  142,000 
acres,  whereas  New  York  has  355,- 
000  acres  engaged  in  potato  produc- 
tion. 

The  production  of  potatoes  abroad 
makes  a  curious  comparison  with 
that  of  the  United  States.  The  world 
production  is  5,714,188,000  bushels 
(1913  figures).  Of  this  enormous 
total  Austria-Hungary  alone  pro- 
duced 627,728,000,  one  third  more 
bushels  than  produced  and  used  by 
the  United  States  in  1915,  Germany 


by  it  he  sustains  his  working  tools, 
the  farm  animals,  and  feeds  the 
stock,  which  is  in  itself  a  crop.  In 
the  United  States  50,872,000  acres 
produce  hay  with  an  average  yield 
of  1.68  tons  per  acre.  This  makes 
the  total  production  85,225,000  tons, 
a  weight  as  impossible  to  realize  as 
it  is  to  grasp  the  fact  that  it  is 
valued  at  $912,320,000.  The  com- 
bined navies  of  the  world  have  not 
a  tonnage  equal  to  the  United  States 
hay  crop.  A  fleet  of  two  thousand 
boats,  each  the  size  and  dimensions 


Regions  producing 
Potatoes  in  large  quantity 
Regions  producing 
Potatoes  in  small  quantity 
-      [•]  Sago  Producing  Ureas 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  POTATOES  &  SAGO 


produces  1,674,377,000  bushels  of  po- 
tatoes, whereas  the  total  for  Euro- 
pean Russia  is  1,269,696,000  bush- 
els. It  is  amusing  to  note  that  of 
the  279,121,000  bushels  produced  by 
the  United  Kingdom  in  1914,  Scot- 
land grew  40,270,000,  Wales  5,445,- 
000,  England  104,504,000  and  Ire- 
land the  balance  of  128,642,000 
bushels  of  Irish  "praties." 

Hay 

To  the  farmer  few  crops  are  of 
more  importance  than  hay,  'because 


of  the  ill-fated  "Lusitania,"  would 
not  weigh  as  much,  nor  are  there 
wheeled  vehicles  enough  in  the 
United  States,  outside  of  railroad 
equipment,  to  load  a  year's  crop 
upon  it  and  haul  it  to  market  in  one 
day's  time.  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania are  the  two  leading  States, 
the  former  growing  5,850,000  tons 
on  4,500,000  acres,  valued  at  $91,- 
845,000,  and  the  latter  growing 
4,340,000  tons  on  3,100,000  acres, 
valued  at  $67,704,000.  Rhode  Island 
produced  the  least  amount  of  hay, 


AGRICULTURE 


47 


getting     71,000     tons     from     57,000 
acres. 

Cotton 

No  crops  are  more  important  to 
manufacturing  than  cotton.  Most 
agricultural  products  either  feed  the 
world  or  the  animals  which,  work- 
ing for  farmers,  assist  in  feeding  the 
world.  Cotton  and  wool,  however, 
are  agricultural  products  which  are 
used  for  clothing,  and  cotton,  much 
more  than  wool,  is  of  enormous  im- 
portance in  the  arts.  The  war  con- 
ditions hurt  the  cotton  industry  in 
this  country  to  a  very  large  extent, 
but  a  recovery  is  now  under  way, 
and  even  though  the  war  continues 
it  will  in  time  grow  nearly  to  nor- 
mal. Under  usual  conditions  over 
65  per  cent  of  the  cotton  crop  of  the 
United  States  is  exported,  53  per 
cent  of  our  total  agricultural  ex- 
ports consisting  of  cotton.  Conse- 
quently anything  which  hurts  its  ex- 
portation strikes  a  blow  at  the  whole 
cotton  industry  of  the  United  States, 
much  as  if  over  half  of  our  wheat 
crop  or  half  of  our  farm  animals 
should  suddenly  be  wiped  out  of 
existence. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1914,  cotton 
sold  at  an  average  of  12.4  cents  a 
pound.  By  November  it  had  declined 
to  6.3  cents  a  pound,  a  reduction  of 
nearly  one  half.  The  whole  cotton 
crop  of  1913  averaged  to  its  pro- 
ducers 12  Ms  cents  per  pound,  where- 
as that  of  1914  averaged  but  7.3 
cents,  a  decline  of  over  40  per  cent. 
In  other  words,  over  $283,000,000, 
or  one-third  of  the  estimated  value 
of  the  cotton  crop,  was  lost  on  ac- 
count of  the  war,  and  this  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  production  in  1914 
was  almost  2,000,000  bales  greater 
than  in  1913. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  uninitiated 
to  appreciate  the  extent  to  which 
the  South  depends  upon  its  cotton 
product.  Cotton  and  cotton  seed 
represent  almost  two  thirds  of  the 
value  of  all  crops  produced  in 
Georgia  and  Mississippi.  Cotton 
represents  63  per  cent  of  the  value 
of  ah  crops  produced  in  Texas,  60 
per  cent  of  those  produced  in  Ala- 


bama and  53  per  cent  of  those  pro- 
duced in  Arkansas. 

The  industrial  depression  caused 
by  the  shrinkage  in  cotton  values 
was  severe,  but  by  June,  1915,  the 
total  shipments  for  the  year  were 
within  8  per  cent  of  the  preceding 
year.  Nevertheless  the  value  has 
shrunk,  in  spite  of  crop  recovery, 
over  38  per  cent.  As  a  result  of  this, 
plus  the  foreign  demand  for  grain, 
the  acreage  under  cultivation  for 
wheat,  barley,  oats  and  other  cereals 
needed  abroad  has  greatly  increased, 
while  cotton  planters  now  plant  a 
much  smaller  acreage  than  in  pre- 
war times.  The  estimate  for  the 
cotton  crop  for  the  fiscal  year  is 


MECHANICAL    COTTON    PICKER 

less  than  11,000,000  bales,  which, 
compared  with  the  production  of 
16,134,000  bales  in  1914  and  with 
an  average  yearly  production  in  the 
preceding  five  years  of  13,033,000 
bales,  is  rather  small.  The  decrease 
results  from  a  reduction  of  about  15 
per  cent  in  the  acreage  planted  in 
cotton  and  a  20  per  cent  poorer  yield. 
Few  countries  give  official  statis- 
tics for  the  production  of  cotton,  so 
that  to  state  any  figure  and  call  it 
the  world's  production  of  cotton  is 
impossible  with  any  degree  of  accu- 
racy. British  India  produced 


9  8 


Si 


U  Q 
M  O 


:*£s 


wf 


1 


• 


50 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


4,238,494  bales  of  cotton  in  1914 
against  over  16,000,000  for  the 
United  States  for  the  same  year. 
The  total  for  Russia  in  1914  was 
1,177,995  bales  and  Egypt  is  credited 
with  1,450,000  bales  during  the  same 
period.  Statistics  of  1910  give  the 
world's  production  of  22,433,269 
bales  of  cotton,  but  are  frankly  in- 
accurate and  are  only  for  those  com- 
paratively few  countries  from  which 
figures  are  available.  Normally  the 
United  States  has  under  cultivation 
in  the  neighborhood  of  36,000,000 
acres  of  cotton  and  could  normally 
expect  this  year  to  produce  a  much 
larger  quantity  than  will  be  picked 
under  the  abnormal  conditions. 

Texas  is  the  largest  producer  of 
cotton  among  the  States,  accounting 
for  3,175,000  bales  of  500  pounds 
each.  Georgia  is  next  with  1,900,- 
000  bales,  followed  by  South  Caro- 
lina with  1,160,000  bales.  Virginia 
has  the  smallest  cotton  crop,  mar- 
keting but  16,000  bales. 

Tobacco 

In  the  year  1849  the  United  States 
produced  199,753,000  pounds  of 
tobacco.  In  1915  our  production  was 
1,060,587,000  pounds,  a  crop  valued 
at  $96,041,000  at  the  farms  of  1,368,- 
400  acres  which  produced  it.  Ken- 
tucky is  the  leading  tobacco  State, 
with  356,400,000  pounds  yearly,  fol- 
lowed by  North  Carolina  with  198,- 
400,000  and  Virgina  with  144,375,- 
000  pounds. 

Tobacco  is  one  of  the  agricul- 
tural products  which  we  both  export 
and  import,  the  imports,  however, 
falling  far  short  of  the  exports.  In 
1914  our  exports  were  348,346,091 
pounds  (more  than  40  per  cent  of 
the  crop)  and  our  imports  45,764,- 
728  pounds.  The  reason  for  any  im- 
ports, of  course,  is  the  fact  that 
there  are  so  many  varieties  of 
tobacco,  and  not  all  kinds  grow  well, 
or  in  sufficient  quantity,  in  the  cli- 
mate of  our  Southern  States.  Both 
exports  and  imports  given  above  are 
of  the  unmanufactured  tobacco. 
World  figures  for  tobacco  production 
are  not  available  with  any  degree 


of  accuracy  since  1911,  when  the 
total  was  2,566,202,000  pounds,  not 
quite  three  times  the  production  of 
the  United  States  alone  in  that  year. 

Flax 

One  million  three  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  thousand  acres  produce 
13,845,000  bushels  of  flax  and  flax 
seed,  of  which  the  average  farm 
price  per  bushel  is  $1.739.  The  total 
value  is  thus  $24,080,000.  North 
Dakota  leads  all  flax  producing 
States  with  an  acreage  of  660,000 
and  a  production  of  6,534,000  bush- 
els, and  as  the  value  of  this  North 
Dakota  flax  was  over  $11,000,000 
this  one  State  has  nearly  half  the 
flax  industry  of  the  United  States. 

Rice 

Rice  is  not  one  of  the  great  crops 
of  the  United  States  and  yet  an 
acreage  of  803,000  is  devoted  to  its 
growing.  Twenty-eight  million  nine 
hundred  and  forty-seven  bushels  of 
rice,  with  a  value  of  $26,212,000,  is 
the  rice  industry's  contribution  to 
our  agricultural  wealth.  For  com- 
parison with  statistics  of  other  coun- 
tries it  is  necessary  to  express  pro- 
duction hi  pounds.  In  1914  we  grew 
656,917,000  pounds,  while  Italy  pro- 
duced 741,263,000  pounds  and  British 
India  62,638,912,000  pounds.  Japan 
grew  17,827,247,000  pounds  and  our 
own  Philippine  Islands  1,403,516,000 
pounds.  Just  what  a  small  propor- 
tion of  the  total  rice  crop  of  the 
world  is  ours  is  shown  by  the 
world's  figures  for  1913,  100,700,000,- 
000  pounds  of  rice. 

Apples 

Apples  are  among  the  important 
fruit  crops  of  the  United  States. 
Of  three  bushel  barrels  there  were 
76,670,000  grown,  at  an  average 
price  of  74.6  cents  per  bushel  at 
the  farm.  The  principal  apple  pro- 
ducing State  is  New  York,  with 
8,528,000  barrels,  followed  by  Mis- 
souri with  6,287,000  barrels  and 
Pennsylvania  with  5,085,000  barrels. 
There  are  more  than  35  varieties  of 
apples  extensively  grown  in  the 
United  States,  of  which  the  most 


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OTTR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  WINE 


popular  is  the  Baldwin,  with  13.4 
per  cent  of  the  total  crop;  followed 
by  Ben  Davis,  13.3  per  cent ;  North- 
ern Spy,  6.1  per  cent;  Winesap,  5.1 
per  cent;  Rhode  Island  Greening, 
4.7  per  cent,  and  Jonathan,  with  3.6 
per  cent  of  the  total  crop.  The  total 
production  of  apples  in  the  United 
States  was  considerably  less  in  1915 
than  in  1914,  the  difference  being 
over  8,000,000  barrels,  which  is  al- 
most exactly  the  difference  between 
the  production  in  1914  and  1915  in 
New  York  State. 

Peaches 

United  States  orchards  produce 
64,218,000  bushels  of  peaches.  The 
farm  price  per  bushel  averages  81.1 
cents,  making  the  total  peach  crop 
of  the  United  States  $52,080,798  in 
value.  California  leads  in  the  peach 
production  with  9,768,000  bushels, 
followed  by  Arkansas  with  5,940,000 
and  Georgia  with  5,330,000  bushels. 

Hops 

According  to  1913  statistics  the 
principal  hop  producing  countries 


of  the  world  grew  173,937,000  pounds 
of  hops.  Of  this  quantity  the  United 
States  produced  62,898,000  pounds. 
The  following  year,  1914,  the  hop 
production  in  the  United  States 
dropped  to  43,415,000  pounds.  As 
might  be  expected,  Germany,  if  not 
the  leader,  is  very  close  to  the  front 
in  the  production  of  this  herb,  be- 
ing responsible  (1914)  for  55,227,- 
000  pounds.  The  United  Kingdom 
produced  1,500,000  pounds  more  than 


TOMATO    PLANTS    TRAINED    ON    TWINE 
TRELLISES 


56 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Germany.     No  1915  figures  for  hops 
are  as  yet  available. 

Beans 

Beans,  a  universal  food,  are  grown 
all  over  the  world.  The  world's 
bean  crop  is  enormous,  but  available 
statistics  are  too  scattering,  even  in 
the  largest  bean  producing  countries, 
to  have  any  great  degree  of  accu- 
racy. The  United  States  has  no 
official  figures  for  beans  later  than 
1912,  which  were  issued  by  the  cen- 
sus office.  In  that  year  11,145,000 
bushels  of  beans  were  grown.  Aus- 
tria-Hungary beats  this  production 
by  almost  50  per  cent,  growing  20,- 
445,000  bushels;  France  produces 
9,354,000  bushels  (1914),  Italy  16,- 
997,000  (1914)  and  European  Rus- 
sia 12,717,000  (1913)  bushels.  The 
price  of  beans  in  the  United  States 
in  1915  fluctuated  between  $2.15  and 
$6.40  per  bushel. 

Peas 

One  million  three  hundred  and 
two  thousand  acres  in  1912  was  the 
area  devoted  to  the  production  of 


peas  in  the  United  States.  There 
are  no  later  official  figures.  The 
1912  production  was  7,110,000  bush- 


FIELD   OF   SUGAR   BEETS 

els,  comparing  not  at  ajl  with  Euro- 
pean Russia,  which  in  the  same  year 
produced  32,128,000  bushels,  or  even 
with  Spain,  which  produced  9,885,- 
000  bushels,  although  the  Spanish 
figures  for  peas  include  chick  peas, 
lentils  and  vetches. 


SOUTHDOWNS    IN    PASTURE 


58 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Sugar 

Sugar  beets  and  sugar  cane  form 
a  very  important  industry  in  the 
United  States,  there  being  67  fac- 
tories engaged  in  the  production  of 
beet  sugar  from  beets.  These  fac- 
tories produce  862,800  short  tons  of 
sugar,  chiefly  refined.  Six  hundred 
and  twenty-four  thousand  acres  are 
devoted  to  the  production  of  sugar 
beets,  each  acre  yielding  an  aver- 
age of  10.4  short  tons  of  beets,  so 


sugar  beets,  whereas  in  all  Europe 
the  total  devoted  to  beets  was 
5,502,200  acres  (1913).  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  surprising  to  note  that 
Europe's  production  of  sugar  from 
beets  in  1913  was  61,774,400  tons 
against  the  five  and  one  half  million 
of  the  United  States.  Louisiana  is 
the  cane  sugar  center.  In  1914,  the 
last  year  for  which  statistics  are 
available,  149  factories  produced 
242,700  short  tons  of  sugar  from 


SMUDGE    POTS 


that  6.462,000  tons  were  utilized. 
Sugar  beets  average  $5.54  per  ton. 
The  principal  refineries  are  located 
in  California  (11),  Colorado  (14), 
Idaho  (4).  Michigan  (15),  Ohio  (4) 
and  Utah  (8). 

The  United  States  is  by  no  means 
the  world  leader  in  beet  sugar,  Aus- 
tria-Hungary producing  over  1,700,- 
000  and  Germany  2,755J50  short 
tons.  In  the  United  States,  accord- 
ing to  1914  figures,  a  total  of  483,- 
400  acres  were  devoted  to  growing 


3,199,000  short  tons  of  sugar  cane. 
The  average  yield  of  cane  per  acre 
in  Louisiana  was  15  tons,  a  loss  of 
two  tons  from  the  unusually  luxuri- 
ant production  in  1913,  17  tons  to 
the  acre. 

The  Hawaiian  Islands  have  46 
factories,  which  average  183  days 
operation  in  the  year.  In  1914  the 
Hawaiian  factories  produced  612,OuO 
short  tons  of  sugar  from  the  harvest 
of  112,700  acres.  The  average  yield 
per  acre  was  43  short  tons,  a  total 


AGRICULTURE 


gj  Region*  when  Cattle  are  raiieJ 
Black  Area  indicate,  over  60  Cattle 
per  Square  Hile 


WORLD'S  CATTLE  RAISING  REGIONS 


WORLD'S  SHEEP  RAISING  REGIONS 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


CATTLE  STATISTICS 


Jan.  1 

Milch  Cows 

Other  Cattle 

Number 

Price 
per 
head 
Jan.  1 

Farm  value 
Jan.  1 

Number 

Price 
per 
head 
Jan.  1 

Farm  value 
Jan.  1 

1867  .  .     . 
1876..     . 
1886.  .     . 
1896..     . 
1906.  .     . 
1916..     . 

8,349,000 
11,085,000 
14,235,000 
16,138.000 
19,7941000 
21,988,000 

$28.74 
25.61 
27.40 
22.55 
29.44 
53.90 

$239,947,000 
283,879,000 
389,986,000 
363,956,000 
582,789,000 
1,185,119,000 

11,731.000 
16,785,000 
31,275,000 
32,085,000 
47,068,000 
39,453,000 

$15.79 
17.00 
21.17 
15.86 
15.85 
33.49 

$185,254,000 
285,387,000 
661,956,000 
508,928,000 
746,172.000 
1,321,135,000 

CHURNING    BUTTER    IN    A    CO-OPERATIVE    CREAMERY— INSERT    SHOWS    A 
MODERN    MILK-MAID 


production  of  4,900,000  short  tons 
of  cane.  The  Hawaiian  cane  is  ex- 
tremely rich,  requiring  but  a  single 
short  ton  of  cane  to  produce  250 
pounds  of  sugar,  an  average  yield  of 
10,861  pounds  of  sugar  per  acre  of 
cane. 


LIVE    STOCK 

Horses  and  Mules 
Increase  in  numbers  of  horses  and 
mules  on  United  States  farms  has 
fully  kept  pace  with  the  increase  in 
population.  The  census  of  1870 
showed  7,145,370  horses  and  1,125,- 


a  p 
W 

is 

wg 
§2 


1 


62 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


415  mules  in  the  United  States.  The 
estimated  number  for  1916,  based  on 
the  best  available  statistics,  is  21,- 
166,000  horses  and  4,565,000  mules. 
The  average  value  of  a  farm  horse 
in  1870  was  $67.43.  To-day  it  is 
$101.60.  The  average  price  of  a 


For  instance,  the  average  price  per 
head  for  horses  in  the  Chicago  Horse 
Market  in  1914  was  $208  for  a 
drafter,  $483  for  a  carriage  team, 
$169  for  drivers,  $160  for  general 
horses,  $184  for  saddle  horses,  and 
so  on.  These  figures  represent  a  con- 


FARM  PRODUCT  CARRIED  AS  FREIGHT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1912-1914 


Product 

Year  ending  June  30 

1912 

1913 

1914 

Animal  matter: 
Animals,  live  

Packing-house  products  — 
Dressed  meats 

Short  tons 
14,147,000 

Short  tons 
15,042,000 

Short  tons 
14,811,000 

2,346,000 
1,139,000 
2,360,000 

2,407,000 
1,121,000 
2,345,000 

2,283,000 
1,081,000 
2,375,000 

Hides  (including  leather)  
Other  packing-house  products  

Total  packing-house  products  
Poultry  (including  game  and  flsh) 

5,845,000 

5,873,000 

5,739,000 

768,000 
407,000 
3,807,000 

847,000 
398,000 
4,286,000 

915,000 
409,000 
5,264,000 

Wool 

Other  animal  matter  

Total  animal  matter  

24,974,000 

26,446,000 

27,138,000 

Vegetable  matter: 
Cotton 

4,953,000 
12,880,000 

3,942.000 
16,099,000 

4,141,000 
16,795,000 

Fruits  and  vegetables  

Grain  and  grain  products  — 
Grain 

39,299,000 

8,629,000 
7,081,000 

50,945,000 

9,523,000 
7,830,000 

46,015,000 

9,697,000 
7,824,000 

Grain  products  — 
Flour 

Other  grain  products  
Total  grain  and  grain  products  
Hay  

55,009,000 

68,298,000 

63,536,000 

6,828,000 
3,233,000 
982,000 
10,125,000 

7,145,000 
3,599,000 
1,091,000 
9,493,000 

7,319,000 
3,926,000 
1,071,000 
9,338,000 

Sugar  

Tobacco  

Other  vegetable  matter  
Total    egetable  matter  
Total  farm  products  

94,010,000 

109,667,000 

106,126,000 

118,984,000 

136,113,000 

133,264,000 

farm  mule  in  1870  was  $90.42.  To-1 
day  it  is  $113.87.  The  total  value 
of  all  horses  in  1870  was  $556,251,- 
000.  To-day  it  is  $2.150,468,000. 
Mules  were  valued  in  1870  at  $106,- 
654,000.  To-day  their  value  runs  in 
excess  of  $519,820,000. 

The  average  price  of  any  com- 
modity for  the  whole  United  States 
is  seldom  equal  to  the  market  price 
as  paid  in  any  of  the  great  markets. 


siderable  increase  in  recent  years. 
Chicago  prices  for  1901  being  $157 
for  drafters.  $400  for  carriage  team, 
$137  for  drivers,  $102  for  horses  for 
general  work  and  $147  for  saddle 
horses. 

Iowa  farms  possess  more  horses 
than  any  other  State,  having  1,584,- 
000.  Illinois  comes  next  with  1,452,- 
000,  then  Texas  with  1,180,000,  with 
Kansas,  Montana  and  Nebraska 


64 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Regions  producing 

Hides  and  Skins 
HB   Regions  exporting 

Hides  and  Skins 
I  •  I  Leather  Industry  Centers 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTIONS  OF  HIDES  AND  SKINS 


WORLD'S  DAIRY  PRODUCTION 


•T  MUNN  (  CO.  I 


AGRICULTURE 


65 


next,  all  having  more  than  1,000,000. 
Texas  easily  leads  in  the  possession 
of  mules  with  753,000.  Montana  fol- 
lows with  329,000  and  Georgia  has 
309,000. 

Texas,  of  course,  is  the  great  cat- 
tle State.  Nineteen  sixteen  figures 
give  the  Lone  Star  ranges  1,119,000 
milch  cows  and  5,428,000  other  cat- 
tle. Iowa  follows  with  1,391,000 
milch  cows  and  2,737,000  other  cat- 
tle. Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota are  all  among  the  greatest 
cattle  States,  the  stock  on  farms  out- 
numbering even  the  great  herds  in 
more  strictly  cattle  States,  such  as 
Oklahoma  is  popularly  supposed  to 
be  with  its  1,638,000  head. 

Sheep 

Sheep,  like  cattle,  are  valued  not 
only  for  their  meat  but  for  wool 
and  hide.  United  States  sheep  total 
49,162,000.  The  average  price  per 
head  is  $5.17,  making  the  total  farm 
value  $254,348,000  for  all  the  sheep 
in  the  United  States.  Wyoming,  the 
great  sheep  State,  leads  with  a  herd 
of  4,338,000,  followed  by  Montana 
with  3,941,000,  New  Mexico  with 
3,440,000,  Idaho  with  3,102,000  and 


Ohio  with  3,067,000.  While  this 
enormous  herd  roams  the  Western 
plains  and  Eastern  farms  36,000,698 
fleeces  are  marketed,  .  the  average 
weight  of  which  is  6.78  pounds,  the 
total  product  in  the  raw  state  being 
228,777,000  pounds  of  wool. 

Sivine 

Farms  of  the  United  States  pos- 
sess a  herd  of  68,047,000  swine,  the 
average  price  of  which  is  $8.40  per 
head,  or  a  total  farm  value  of  $571,- 
890,000  for  pork  alone.  Iowa  is  the 
great  pork  State  of  the  Union,  av- 
eraging in  1916,  9,069,000  hogs  and 
pigs  of  all  kinds,  followed  by  Mis- 
souri, Illinois,  Nebraska  and  Indiana, 
all  over  4,000,000  each. 


The  space  at  hand  forbids  an  ex- 
tension of  this  brief  survey  of  a 
part  of  the  agricultural  wealth  of 
the  United  States.  Perhaps  no  one 
set  of  figures  can  show  in  more  suc- 
cinct manner  the  extent  of  the  farm- 
ing activities  of  this  country  than 
the  table  on  page  62  of  our  agricul- 
tural products  carried  on  railroads 
and  therefore  marketed. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  FISH  WE  EAT 

By  RALSTON  MOORE 


THE  last  report  of  the  United 
States  Census  dealing  with  the 
fishing  industries  of  the  United 
States  is  that  of  1908.  The  next 
report  will  be  in  1918.  The  1908 
figures,  given  below,  are  therefore 
only  authoritative  in  giving  a  com- 
parison between  the  various  pisca- 
torial products  of  our  waters  and 
cannot  be  accepted  too  literally 
even  there,  as  the  past  eight  years 
have  seen  many  changes  in  some  of 
the  industries. 


ture,  but  detailed  figures  of  certain 
other  fish  industries  are  available 
through  the  work  of  the  Bureau  of 
Fisheries. 

The  greatest  fishing  industry  of 
the  Atlantic  Coast  is  conducted  by 
the  fleets  centering  at  Boston  and 
Gloucester.  Three  hundred  and 
ninety-three  vessels  were  in  these 
fleets  in  1914,  including  sail,  gaso- 
line and  steam  vessels! 

There  were  7,598  trips  made  by 
these  vessels,  landing  at  both  ports 


FROZEN   HALIBUT   IN   STORE   AT 
SEATTLE 


CLEANING    THE    FISH    ON    A    STEAM 
HALIBUT    FISHERMAN 


The  most  important  sea  food  in- 
dustry in  the  United  States  is  un- 
questionably the  oyster  industry. 
No  product  of  the  water  has  a 
greater  nutritive  value  and  none  is 
more  readily  caught  and  sold  than 
this  shell  fish.  No  statistics,  how- 
ever, later  than  those  of  the  census 
of  1908  are  available  for  oyster  cul- 


162,589,220  pounds  of  fish,  valued  at 
$4,395,030.  This  shows  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  trips  from  the  pre- 
vious year  of  1,231,  an  increase  in 
the  catch  of  372,434  pounds,  but  a 
decrease  in  the  value  of  $587,987. 

HADDOCK 

In  1914,  57,754,128  pounds  of  had- 


Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


68 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


PRODUCTS  OF  THE  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES:  1908. 


Species. 


Pounds. 


Alewives 89,978,000 

Black  bass 3,313,000 

Bluefish 7,647,000 

Bream  or  Sunfish 4,738,000 

Buffalo  fish 16,729,000 

Butterfish 6,855,000 

Carp,  German 42,763,000 

Catfish 17,817,000 

Cod 109,453,000 

Croaker 8,143,000 

Cusk 6,344,000 

Drum,  fresh-water 6,532,000 

Drum,  salt-water 4,576,000 

Eels 3,358,000 

Flounders 23,346,000 

Haddock 59,987,000 

Hake 34,340,000 

Halibut 34,441,000 

Herring 125,050,000 

Herring  (lake) 41,118,000 

Mackerel 12,103,000 

Menhaden 394,776,000 

Mullet 33,703,000 

Perch,  white 2,412,000 

Perch,  yellow 7,898,000 

Pike  and  Pickerel 2,959,000 

Pike  percb    15,247,000 

Pollock.     29,462,000 

Pomparc- 570,000 

Rockfhii 2,454,000 

Salmon 90,417,000 

Scup 8,414,000 

Sea  bass 6,352,000 

Shad 27,641,000 

Smelt 4,340,000 

Snapper,  red 13,498,000 

Spanish  mackerel 3,806,000 

Squeteague 49,869,000 

Striped  bass 3,657,000 

Sturgeon 2,072,000 

Suckers 8,555,000 

Swordfish 2,714,000 

Trout 12,024,000 

Whitefish 7,722,000 

Lobsters 15,279,000 

Shrimp 14,374,000 

Clams,  hard 7,805,000 

Clams,  soft 8,654,000 

Oysters 233,309,000 

Mussel  shells , 81,869,000 

Pearls  and  slugs 

Terrapin 268,000 

Turtles 1,088,000 


Dollars. 

589.000 
255,000 
506,000 
120,000 
498,000 
237,000 

1,135,000 
785,000 

2,903,COO 
226,000 
105,000 
154,000 
164,000 
203,000 
588,000 

1,308,000 
464,000 

1,562,000 
796,000 
989,000 
848,000 
893,000 
908,000 
137,000 
258,000 
174,000 
580,000 
402,000 
71,000 
66,000 

3,347,000 
290,000 
284,000 

2,113,000 
174,000 
636,000 
194,000 

1,776,000 
314,000 
157,000 
215,000 
198,000 
800,000 
524,000 

1,931,000 
390,000 

1,317,000 

553,000 

15,713,000 

392,000 

300,000 

80,000 

40,000 


Spot 
Allia 


lligator  hides 

Mink  skins 

Muskrat  skins 

Otter  skins 

Whalebone 

Scallops 

Oil,  sperm 

Oil,  whale 

Irish  moss 


622,000 

372,000 

22,000 

149,000 

7,600 

63,000 

2,414,000 

3,391,000 

573,000 

772,000 


545,000 

61,000 

89,000- 

136,000 

30,000 

215,000 

317,000 

252,000 

30,000 

26.000 


The  total  quantity  and  value  of  the  products  of  the  fisheries  of  the  United  States  including 
the  items  mentioned  above  and  all  other  fish  products  was  1,893,454,000  pounds,  valued  at 
$54,031,000.  No  later  figures  are  available  at  time  of  publication.  In  many  cases  there 
was  an  increase,  in  other  cases  a  decrease. 


FISH    EGG    CAB    OF    THE    BUREAU    OF    FISHERIES 


INTERIOR   OF   FISH   COMMISSION   CAR,    WITH   BERTH   LET   DOWN 


70 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


dock  were  landed,  valued  at  $1,381,- 
156.  This  was  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  pounds  landed  during  the 
previous  year  by  over  four  million, 
but  a  decrease  of  $100,000  in  value. 

POLLOCK 

Pollock  fish,  which  are  caught 
with  purse  seines,  yielded  a  less 
number  of  pounds  and  value  in  1914 
than  1913,  the  1914  catch  being  12,- 
454,723  pounds,  valued  at  $199,736. 

SWORDFISH 

Swordfish  were  less  plentiful  in 
1914  than  several  years  previously. 
American  fishing  vessels  landed  at 
Boston  and  Gloucester  in  1914 
1,499,844  pounds  of  fresh  swordfish, 
valued  at  $177,669. 

COD 

Cod  is  among  the  most  important 
fish ;  it  is  marketed  both  fresh  and 
salt,  and  as  cod  and  scrod,  the  latter 
being  from  one  to  two  and  one  half 


pounds  in  weight.  The  total  catch 
of  all  kinds  landed  at  Boston  and 
Gloucester  was,  in  1914,  fresh  cod, 
36,079,873  pounds,  valued  at  $917,- 
908;  salted  cod,  11,449,757  pounds, 
valued  at  $411,508. 

HERRING 

Newfoundland  herring  landed  at 
Boston,  Gloucester  and  other  New 
England  ports  during  the  season  of 
3914  and  the  first  part  of  1915 
amounted  approximately  to  2,570,- 
352  pounds  of  fresh  frozen  fish,  and 
49,166  barrels,  amounting  to  11,071,- 
584  pounds,  of  salted  herring. 

HALIBUT 

Halibut  valued  at  $246,000  for 
3,063,000  pounds,  and  salted  halibut 
to  the  amount  of  316,000  pounds, 
valued  at  $30,000,  was  packed  dur- 
ing the  year. 


CUSK 
Cusk     yielded     5,747,053 


pounds 


A  ROUGH  MORNING  ON  THE  HALIBUT  BANKS.     LANDING  A  SMALL  CATCH 


THE  FISH  WE  EAT 


71 


fresh,  valued  at  $99,000,  and  salted, 
111,937  pounds,  valued  at  $3,200. 

HAKE 

Hake  was  caught  to  the  amount 
of  7,404,335  pounds,  valued  at  $146,- 
030,  and  salted  to  the  amount  of 
222,033  pounds,  valued  at  $4,218. 

LOBSTERS 

Lobsters  are  caught  from  Lewes, 
Del.,  to  the  tip  of  Maine,  and  pro- 
vide 12,267,017  pounds  of  sea  food 
annually  (1913),  valued  at  $2,394,- 
822  for  8,832,281  lobsters.  The  in- 
dustry shows  the  peculiar  and 
anomalous  condition  of  a  steadily 
decreasing  output  and  a  steadily  in- 
creasing profit  to  those  engaged.  In 
twenty-four  years'  time  the  yearly 
catch  has  decreased  by  more  than 
18,000,000  pounds,  or  60  per  cent, 
while  the  fisherman's  receipts  have 
increased  by  a  million  and  a  half 


dollars,  or  178  per  cent.  In  1880 
the  lobster  brought  an  average  of 
.024  cents  a  pound.  In  1913  lobsters 
averaged  .191  cents  per  pound,  nearly 
ten  times  as  much  as  in  1880  and 
two  and  a  half  times  as  much  as 
in  1900. 

ALASKAN 

The  1914  season  saw  the  Alaska 
fishing  industry  at  its  height  of 
value.  It  afforded  employment  to 
21,200  persons  and  included  the  in- 
vestment of  $37,000,000.  The  total 
value  of  the  products  of  the  Alaskan 
fishers  is  estimated  at  $21,2*3,OuO, 
an  advance  of  over  $5,500,OoO  over 
1913,  due  largely  to  an  unusual 
abundance  of  red  salmon  and  the 
higher  prices  commanded  by  canned 
salmon. 

SEAL 

The  fur  seal  service  reports  from 
the  Pribilof  Islands  a  satisfactory 


FISH   CULTURAL   STATION,    BOZEMAN,    MONTANA 


72 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


condition  of  the  seal  herd.  A  com- 
plete census  of  the  seals  shows  294,- 
687,  an  increase  of  nearly  27,000 
animals  over  the  year  1913.  The 
1915  census  has  not  yet  been  com- 
pleted but  indicates  an  increase  of 
60,000  animals  over  1914. 

MUSSEL 

The  Bureau  of  Fisheries  has  been 
conducting  a  general  canvass  of 
fre?h-water  mussel  fishing,  which 
hao  been  in  progress  for  several 


with  supervision  of  propagation  and 
distribution  of  food  and  game  fishes 
and  scientific  investigations  into  all 
matters  pertaining  to  fish.  In  1914 
the  enormous  quantity  of  4,288,757,- 
800  fish  and  ova  were  distributed. 
The  greater  proportion  of  this,  of 
course,  was  egg  and  not  fish,  but 
fingerling,  yearling  and  adult  fish 
numbered  over  58,000,000,  an  in- 
crease of  150  per  cent  over  1914. 
Of  this  number,  salmon,  trout  and 
bass  contributed  the  larger  part. 


SPAWNING     TROUT     AT     NEOSHO,     MO., 
HATCHERY 


FISH      CULTURAL      STATION, 
VILLE,    VA. 


WYTHE- 


years  on  the  streams  inland.  The 
canvass  covered  in  1914  included 
tributaries  to  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers. 
Three  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
fifty-two  persons  were  engaged  in 
taking  mussels  in  the  streams  under 
consideration  and  in  preparing  them 
for  the  market.  The  mussel  fisher- 
ies had  an  output  of  23,317  tons  of 
shells,  valued  at  $382,210,  and  yield- 
ed pearls  worth  $164,261.  The  shells 
are  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pearl 
buttons. 

BUREAU    OF   FISHERIES 

The   Bureau  of   Fisheries   of  the 
Department  of  Commerce  is  charged 


Perhaps  nothing  in  the  work  of 
the  bureau  is  more  spectacular  than 
its  development  of  a  new  fish  indus- 
try— the  catching  and  marketing  of 
tile  fish.  This  edible  and  nutritive 
fish  was  practically  unknown  in  the 
market  prior  to  October  of  1915. 
Beginning  with  November,  1915,  and 
up  to  August,  1916,  6,938,000  pounds 
of  tile  fish  have  been  taken  and  mar- 
keted for  $255,000.  So  rapidly  did 
the  fish  impress  consumers  with  its 
value  that  the  July,  1916,  catch  was 
over  1400  per  cent  greater  than  that 
of  the  previous  November. 

Fish  cultural  work  was  conducted 
in  thirty-two  States  and  the  terri- 
tory of  Alaska.  Distributions  oc- 


THE    FISH    WE    EAT 


73 


curred  in  every  State  and  Territory 
of  the  Union.  The  greater  part  of 
the  output  is  planted  in  public 
waters,  either  on  the  initiative  of 
the  Fish  Commission  or  on  the 
recommendation  of  State  authority, 
although  fishes  adapted  for  ponds, 
small  lakes  and  minor  interior 
waters  are  usually  consigned  on  in- 
dividual application. 

Fish  cultural  operations  were  con- 
ducted during  the  year  at  fifty 
permanent  hatcheries  and  seventy- 
six  sub-hatcheries,  auxiliaries  and 
egg-collecting  stations.  These  va- 
rious stations  and  sub-stations  are 
located  along  the  Atlantic  rivers  for 
salmons,  trout,  white  perch  and 
yellow  perch;  the  Pacific  rivers  for 
salmons  and  steelhead  trout ;  on  the 
Great  Lakes  for  whitefish,  cisco. 
lake  trout  and  pike  perch ;  on 
various  interior  waters  for  bass, 
sunfish,  carpies,  trout,  and  on  the 
Atlantic  Coast  for  cod,  haddock,  pol- 
lock, flounder  and  lobster. 

An  important  branch  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Fisheries  operations  is  in 
the  rescue  of  young  food  fishes  from 
lakes  and  bayous  formed  by  the 
overflow  of  the  Mississippi  and  Illi- 
nois Rivers  and  their  tributaries. 
During  1915  operations  of  this  char- 
acter yielded  8,357,000  fish,  which  is 
approximately  90  per  cent  of  the 
food  fishes  which  would  otherwise 
have  perished  through  drought  or 
"air  drowning"  when  the  overflow 
dried  up,  or  from  cold  later  in  the 
year  if  not  rescued. 

The  Bureau  of  Fisheries  has  six 
railroad  cars  especially  arranged 
for  the  transportation  of  live  fish. 
During  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1915,  the  distribution  of  fish,  eggs, 
etc.,  by  the  bureau  amounted  to 
536,260,143  eggs,  3,694,281,699  fry 
and  58,215,692  fingerlings,  yearlings 
and  adults.  These  went  to  Fish 
Commissions  in  twenty-eight  differ 
ent  States,  to  waters  needing  stock, 
from  the  controllers  of  which  re- 
quests had  been  made  to  the  bureau, 


and  to  private  persons  asking  for 
fish  for  streams,  lakes  or  ponds. 
While  in  special  instances  some  fish 
or  eggs  are  sent  by  special  messen- 
ger, by  far  the  greater  part  was  sent 
out  by  means  of  the  bureau's  special 
fish  and  egg  transportation  cars. 

The  Bureau  of  Fisheries  has  been 
investigating  and  encouraging  wher- 
ever possible  the  establishment  of 
the  home  fish  ponds  and  in  every 
way  possible  places  its  accumulated 
experience  at  the  disposal  of  per- 
sons interested  in  the  establishment 


THESE  MEN  WITH  MILK  CANS  ACT 
SUSPICIOUSLY,  BUT  THEY  ARE  ONLY 
DEPOSITING  FISH  IN  A  STREAM 

of  fish  ponds  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  fish  for  the  table.  It  is 
impossible,  adequately,  to  convey  an 
idea  of  the  scope  of  operations  of 
the  Bureau  of  Fisheries  in  the  short 
space  available  here  Those  inter- 
ested should  communicate  with  the 
Commissioner  of  Fisheries,  Bureau 
of  Fisheries,  Department  of  Com- 
merce, Washington,  D.  C 


A  FOREST  RANGER  AT  HIS  FIRE  LOOKOUT  STATION  IN  THE  TOP  OF  A  YELLOW 
PINE.  MT.  SHASTA  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.  A  TELEPHONE  AT  THE  FOOT  OF 
THE  TREE  CONNECTS  WITH  THE  SUPERVISOR'S  OFFICE 


CHAPTER    V. 

FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 

TIMBER  SUPPLY 
By  RICHARDSON  DAVENPORT 


TIMBER  standing  in  the  United 
States      amounts      to     nearly 
2,900,000,000,000  board  feet,  of 
which   three   fourths    (about  2,200,- 
000,000,000  board  feet)   is  privately 
owned    and    21    per    cent    (600,000,- 
000,000)     is    conserved    in    national 
forests.     The  remaining  4  per  cent 
is  otherwise  publicly  owned  by  States 
or  municipalities. 

Fire  accounts  for  the  annual  de- 
struction    of     12,000,000.000     board 


the  original  stand  of  timber  in  tb> 
United  States  is  calculated  to  have 
been  5.200,000,000,000  feet,  covering 
800,000,000  acres.  Nearly  half  the 
country's  timber  is  in  the  Pacific 
Northwest,  a  fourth  of  it  is  in  the 
Southern  Pine  region,  and  the  bal- 
ance in  the  Lake  region  and  scat- 
tered in  the  Eastern  States. 

Most  of  the  national  forests  are 
in  the  mountains  of  the  West  fol- 
lowing in  general  the  Rockv  Mou"- 


Sowing   Tree   Seeds 


The    Trees    of    Future    Forests 


THE  GOVERNMENT  HAS  34,000,000  LITTLE  TREES  WHICH  WILL  BE  USED  TO  PLANT 
DENUDED    AREAS    ON    THE    NATIONAL    FORESTS 


feet,  and  waste  as  much  more. 
Many  saws  waste  as  much  as  they 
cut,  and  stumps,  slashing  and  slabs 
account  for  a  tremendous  loss.  It 
is  probable,  although  not  computable 
accurately,  that  fires  and  waste  use 
more  lumber  than  is  cut  yearly,  a 
statement  borne  out  by  the  fact  that 


tains  and  Pacific  Coast  ranges  from 
Washington,  Idaho  and  Montana  to 
southern  California.  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico.  A  few  are  in  Arkan- 
sas, Florida.  Nebraska,  Michigan. 
Minnesota,  Alaska  and  Porto  Rico. 
States  which  have  set  aside  forest 
reserves  of  their  own  are  California, 


Copyright    by    Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


76 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Connecticut,  Indiana,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  South  Da- 
kota, Vermont  and  Wisconsin. 


SHIFT    IN    LUMBER    PRODUCTION 

A  careful  comparison  of  computed 
production  for  1915  as  against  re- 
ported production  for  1914  reveals 
changes  which  lumber  cutting  is 


1915  LUMBER  CUT  BY  SPECIES,  WITH  VALUE 


KIND  OF  WOOD 

Probable  Total 
Board  Feet 

Value,  por  M 
Board  Feet 

Yellow  Pine  
Douglas  fir.  . 

14,700,000,000 
4,431,249,000 

$12.50 
10.50 

Oak  
White  pine 

2,970,000,000 
2  700  000  000 

19.00 
18  00 

Hemlock  
Spruce 

2,275,000,000 
1  400  000  000 

13  .  00 
16  50 

Western  yellow  pine  
Qy  press 

1,293,985,000 
1  100,000  000 

14.50 
20  00 

Maple  
Red  gum  
Chestnut  

900,000,000 
655,000,000 
490,000,000 

15.00 
12.50 
16.00 

Yellow  poplar                                      

464,000,000 

22  50 

Redwood  

420,294,000 

13.50 

Cedar                                

420,000,000 

15  50 

Birch  

415,000,000 

16.50 

Larch                 

375,000,000 

11   00 

Beech 

360  000  000 

14  00 

Basswood          

260,000,000 

19.00 

Elm 

210  000  000 

17  00 

Ash        

190,000,000 

22.50 

Cottonwood                                             .   ".  .  . 

180,000,000 

17  50 

Tupelo 

170  000  000 

12  00 

White  flr                                    

125,048,000 

11  00 

Sugar  pine  

117,701,000 

17.50 
to 

Balsam  fir  
Hickory                                                      

100,000,000 
100,000,000 

18  .  50 
14.00 
23.50 

Walnut  

90,000,000 

Lodgepole  pine                                 

26,486,000 

13.00 

Sycamore 

25  000  000 

14  00 

All  other  kinds  

49,531,000 

Total  

37,013,294,000 

ANNUAL    CUT 

Reliable  but  not  absolutely  accu- 
rate figures  of  lumber  production 
are  furnished  by  the  Forest  Service 
of  the  United  States  government. 
Based  on  the  reports  from  16,428 
lumber  mills,  the  1915  cut  is  esti- 
mated to  have  been  37,013,294,000 
board  feet,  with  a  possible  maximum 
of  38,000,000,000  board  feet.  A 
"board  foot"  is  12  by  12  by  1  inch. 
Forty  per  cent  of  the  cut  was  South- 
ern yellow  pine,  three  times  the 
amount  of  Douglas  fir,  second  in 
quantity  cut.  But  three  other 
woods,  oak,  white  pine  and  fir,  were 
cut  in  excess  of  2,000,000,000  feet. 


ON    THE    FIRING    LINE,    FIGHTING    A 
GROUND   FIRE 


FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 


77 


1915  AND  1914  PRODUCTION  OF  LUMBER  BY  STATES  REPORTED  BY  MILLS 
CUTTING  50,000  AND  OVER 


STATES 

Increase 
or 
Decrease 
Per  Cent 

1915 
Computed 
Total 
Production 
M  ft. 

1914 
Reported 
Production* 
M  ft. 

Washington  
Louisiana 

+      .1 
-    1.4 
+      .8 
-  6.2 
+      .2 
+12.6 
-  7.0 
+      .4 
+      -8 
-13.0 
-14.3 
+  3.4 
-  9.4 
-16.2 
-   1.7 
+      .7 
-  2.6 
+  9.9 
+  14.0 
-  9.6 
+  1.8 
-  6.1 
+  3.6 
-  2.3 
+39.8 
-  5.6 
+17.2 
+  3.2 
+  4.2 
+74.7 
+14.7 
+  1.9 
+66.1 
+  9.9 
-22.1 
-  3.5 
+15.1 
-17.9 
+205  .  9 
-  2.0 
+27.0 
+46.8 
-  5.7 
+25.5 

3,950,000 
3,900,000 
2,300,000 
2,090,000 
,800,000 
,750,000 
,690,000 
,500,000 
,500,000 
,210,000 
,130,000 
,110,000 
1,100,000 
1,100,000 
1,100,000 
1.000,000 
1,000,000 
950,000 
800,000 
800,000 
777,000 
560,000 
500,000 
475,000 
400,000 
350,000 
350,000 
328,000 
260,000 
250,000 
230,000 
165,000 
110,000 
90,000 
79,500 
75,915 
65,787 
40,000 
35,000 
25,000 
23,000 
17,400 
15,000 
10,892 
** 

3,946,189 
3,966,434 
2,280,966 
2,227,854 
1,796,780 
1,554,005 
1,817,875 
1,494,732 
1,488,070 
1,391,001 
1,318,065 
1,073,821 
1,214,435 
1,312,230 
1,118,480 
992,594 
1,026,191 
864,710 
701,540 
885,035 
763,508 
596,392 
482,744 
486,195 
286,063 
370,571 
298,571 
317,842 
249,608 
143,094 
200,594 
162,097 
66,227 
81,883 
102,117 
78,667 
57,167 
48,748 
11,443 
25,517 
18,744 
11,852 
15,902 
8,680 
790 

Mississippi.  .  .  . 
North  Carolina. 
Arkansas  
Texas  .  . 

Oregon  
Alabama  
Virginia  

Wisconsin 

California  (incl. 
Florida  
Michigan  

Nev.)  

Minnesota 

West  Virginia.  . 

Maine  
Georgia 

Pennsylvania.  . 
South  Carolina 

Tennessee  
Idaho 

Kentucky  
New  Hampshire 
New  York  
Ohio 

Missouri  
Indiana 

Montana  
Vermont 

Massachusetts.  . 
Oklahoma 

Maryland  
Illinois 

Connecticut.  .  . 
Colorado 

Arizona  

New  Mexico 

New  Jersey  

Iowa  
Delaware  

South  Dakota.  . 
Wyoming 

Rhode  Island  .  .  . 
Utah  

Kansas  and  Neb 
Totals 

raska  

—  .9 

37,013,294 

37,346,023 

*  Quinquennial  census  of  manufacturers — custom  mills  excluded 
**  Mills  reporting  cut  less  than  50,000  each 


producing  in  the  location  of  prin- 
cipal supplies.  During  the  year 
Washington  rose  from  second  place 
to  first  in  lumber  production,  Louisi- 
ana dropped  from  first  to  second 
place,  Oregon  fell  from  fifth  place 
to  seventh,  Florida  climbed  from 
fifteenth  place  to  twelfth  and  Minne- 
sota dropped  from  eleventh  place  to 
fourteenth. 


LOCALITIES    OF    VARIOUS     SPECIES 

The  principal  varieties  of  lumber 
and  the  States  in  which  they  grow 
are  listed  on  page  80,  the  order  of  the 
names  of  States  being  according  to 
their  rank  in  growing  the  particular 
variety  of  lumber  under  which  they 
are  classified. 

LATHS    AND    SHINGLES 

From  the  reports  of  mills  and  the 


FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 


79 


total  number  of  mills  and  their 
capacity,  a  comparatively  accurate 
figure  of  total  cut  can  be  obtained. 
But  it  is  not  possible  accurately  to 
estimate  what  proportion  of  the  out- 
put of  unreporting  mills  may  be  in 
lath  and  shingles.  Hence  the  fol- 
lowing figures  are  confined  strictly 
to  reports  and  are  not  estimates. 
As  the  lath  cut  increased  slightly 
and  the  shingle  cut  decreased  de- 
cidedly since  1912,  the  last  previous 
year  for  which  lath  and  shingle 
figures  are  available,  they  are  given 
for  comparison. 

In  1915  mills  reporting  showed  a 
lath  cut  of  2,794,301,000  as  against 
2,719,163,000  in  1912.  In  1915  mills 
reporting  showed  a  shingle  cut  of 
8,483,579,000  against  12,037,685,000 
in  1912. 

Louisiana  produced  most  laths  in 
1915,  with  433,176,000,  forging  ahead 
of  Washington,  leader  in  1912. 
Washington  produced  most  shingles 


1915    TIMBER    CUT   BY    SPECIES 


BILLIONS  BOARD 


VELLOW  PINE 
DOUCLA5  FIR 

OAK. 


cy  CRN 

YPRESS 


RED  GUM 
CHESTNUT 


REGULATED    VS.    UNREGULATED    CUTTING 
The   private    lands    are    stripped,    while    the   adjoining   government    forests    are    conserve^ 


80 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


in  1915,  with  a  cut  of  6,313,335,000, 
more  than  fifteen  times  as  many  as 
any  other  State,  but  dropping  by  a 
billion  and  a  half  under  its  figures 
for  1912. 

BOX    MANUFACTURE 

The  largest  users  of  lumber  in  the 
United  States,  excluding  builders 
and  millwrights  utilizing  lumber  for 
products  used  in  construction  work, 
are  the  box  manufacturers.  Statis- 
tics for  1912  are  the  most  recent 
ones  available.  According  to  these, 
4,547,973,180  board  feet  are  used 
annually  In  the  production  of  boxes, 


and  machines,  growers  of  fruit,  ber- 
ries and  vegetables.  Crates  are 
used  in  large  quantities  by  shippers 
of  furniture,  hardware,  machinery 
and  stone;  also  for  fruit. 

CROSSTIES 

Railroads  made  a  tremendous  de- 
mand on  the  lumber  market  for 
orossties  and  poles.  No  more  recent 
statistics  than  those  of  1910  are 
available  as  to  crossties,  but  in  that 
year  nearly  149,000,000  ties  were 
used.  Because  a  tie  must  be  selected 
for  durability,  spike-holding  power, 
resistance  to  mechanical  wear  and 


LOCALITIES     OF     VARIOUS     SPECIES 


SPECIES 


States  Listed  in  Order  of  Rank 


Yellow  pine 

Douglas  fir 

White  pine 

Oak 

Hemlock 

Western  pine 

Spruce 

Cypress 

Maple 

Redwood 

Red  gum 

Larch  and  tamarack 
Yellow  poplar 

Cedar.  . 

Birch  

Sugar  pine 

Basswood 

Beech 

Elm 

Cotton  wood 


Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Texas,  North  Carolina,  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  Virginia,  Georgia,  South  Carolina, 
Oklahoma 

Washington,  Oregon,  California,  Idaho,  Montana 

Minnesota,  Idaho,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Wisconsin,  Mass- 
achusetts, Michigan 

West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Virginia, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  North  Carolina,  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Indiana,  Lotiisiana 

Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  West  Vir- 
ginia, New  York,  Maine,  Oregon 

California,  Idaho,  Oregon,  Washington,  Montana,  Arizona, 
New  Mexico,  Nevada 

Maine,  Washington,  New  Hampshire,  West  Virginia,  Vermont, 
Oregon,  New  York,  Minnesota,  Massachusetts 

Louisiana,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Arkansas,  Mis- 
sissippi, Missouri 

Michigan,  Wisconsin 

California 

Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  South  Carolina,  Missouri, 
Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky 

Montana,  Idaho,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Wash- 
ington, Oregon 

West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Ohio 

Washington,  Idaho,  California.  Oregon 

Wisconsin,  Michigan 

California 

Wisconsin,  Michigan 

Michigan,  Indiana 

Wisconsin,  Michigan 

\rkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana 


crates  and  other  containers.  Sixty- 
nine  per  cent  of  this  amount  is  soft 
wood  and  31  hardwood.  The  total 
amount  in  1912  was  1%  per  cent  of 
the  total  cut. 

Leading  box  consumers  are  manu- 
facturers of  oil,  packing-house  prod- 
ucts, canned  goods,  groceries  and 
tobacco,  clothing  and  dry  goods,  the 
manufacturers  of  hardware,  tinware 


reasonableness  of  price,  there  are 
but  few  woods  which  are  chosen  by 
railroads.  The  principal  ones  and 
their  popularity  by  both  steam  and 
electric  roads  are  shown  in  the  table 
on  page  82. 

POLES 

Railroads,  trolley*  lines,  telephone 
and  telegraph  companies  consume 
large  quantities  of  lumber  yearly  in 


FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 


81 


NATURAL   FOEEST   REGION b    Oi    NORTH    AMERICA 


82 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


CROSSTIES  PURCHASED,  BY  CLASSES  OF  RAILROADS  PURCHASING,  AND 

KINDS  OF  WOOD 


1910 


WOOD 

Total 

Purchased 
by  steam 
railroads 

Purchased 
by  electric 
railroads 

All  kinds  .  . 

148,231,000 

139,596,000 

8,635,000 

Oak  

68,382,000 

65,095,000 

3,287,000 

Southern  pine  
Douglas  fir  
Chestnut 

26,264,000 
11,629,000 
7  760  000 

25,096,000 
10,919,000 
6  219  000 

1,168,000 
710,000 
1  541  000 

Cedar  
Cypress 

7,305,000 
5  396,000 

6,637,000 
5,187,000 

668,000 
209  000 

Tamarack.  
Western  pine 

5,163,000 
4,612,000 

4,960,000 
4,527,000 

203,000 
85,000 

Hemlock  
Redwood  
Gum 

3,468,000 
2,165,000 
1  621  000 

3,442,000 
1,501,000 
1  621,000 

26,000 
664,000 

All  other  

4,466,000 

4,392,000 

74,000 

15       20       25       30       35        40       45       50      55       60      65 


KINDS    OF    WOODS    USED    FOR    RAILROAD    CROSSTIES 


purchase  and  use  of  poles.  In  1911, 
the  most  recent  year  for  which  pole 
statistics  have  been  gathered,  3,418,- 
020  poles  were  bought  by  companies 
needing  them  for  immediate  use. 
Of  this  quantity  cedar  poles  were 
the  most  popular  accounting  for  over 
two  million,  with  chestnut,  oak,  pine 
and  cypress  following  in  the  order 
named.  Poles  under  twenty  feet 
long  were  bought  to  the  number  of 
404,728  (largely  for  rural  telegraph 


and  telephone  lines)  ;  poles  between 
twenty  and  thirty  feet,  the  most 
popular  size,  accounted  for  1,861,816 
of  the  total ;  between  thirty  and 
forty  feet,  862,219;  between  forty 
and  fifty  feet,  217,000,  and  over  fifty 
feet,  72,257. 

WOOD    PRESERVATION 

The  art  of  preserving  wood  has 
advanced  rapidly  in  recent  years 
and  the  long  threatened  wood  famine 


FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 


83 


and  the  consequent  higher  prices 
have  led  many  large  users  of  wood 
exposed  to  weather  and  decay,  not- 
ably railroads  and  telegraph  and 
telephone  companies,  to  experiment 
seriously  with  processes  which 
would  cut  down  expense  by  preven- 
tion of  decay.  According  to  statis- 
tics of  the  American  Wood  Pre- 
servers' Association,  gathered  in  co- 
operation with  the  Forest  Service, 
in  1915,  102  wood  preserving  plants 
treated  141,858,963  cubic  feet  of  ma- 
terial. The  1914  statistics  on  wood 
preservation  were  based  on  reports 
from  ninety-four  plants  and  showed 
a  total  of  159,582,639  cubic  feet 
treated.  Although  the  figures  for 
1915  are  based  on  the  output  of 
eight  more  plants  than  are  those  for 
1914,  the  amount  of  wood  treated 
in  1915  was  less  by  17,723,676  cubic 
feet,  or  10  per  cent. 

A  notable  increase,  amounting  to 
1.986,286  cubic  feet,  was  recorded  in 
the  amount  of  construction  timber 
treated  during  the  year.  The  num- 


ber of  crossties  subjected  to  treat- 
ment in  1915  was  37,085,585,  a  re- 
duction from  1914  figures  of  6,761,- 
402,  while  the  quantity  of  paving 
material  was  increased  by  over  300,- 
000  square  yards,  or  11  per  cent. 
Less  than  half  as  many  cross-arms 
were  treated  in  1915  as  in  the  pre- 
vious year,  and  the  quantity  of  piling 
and  miscellaneous  timbers  treated 
fell  below  that  reported  in  1914  by 
1,766,618  and  200,825  cubic  feet,  re- 
spectively, a  decrease  of  21  per  cent 
and  14  per  cent. 

For  the  treatment  of  the  141,858,- 
963  cubic  feet  of  material  reported 
in  1915  33,269,604  pounds  of  zinc 
chloride  and  80,859,442  gallons  of 
creosote  were  required.  In  addition 
3,205,563  gallons  of  paving  oil  and 
1,693,544  gallons  of  miscellaneous 
liquid  preservatives  were  consumed. 
In  1914  paving  oil  was  reported 
separately  for  the  first  time  and 
amounted  to  9,429,444  gallons.  In 
1915  the  treating  plants  reported 
only  3,205,563  gallons  of  this  heavier 


A    Forest   Hanger    it 


LOCATING    THE    FIRE 
ng   his   compass   and   map   to  find 


nit   where   the   fire   is 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


oil/  or  considerably   less   than   half 
the  1914  consumption. 

NATIONAL  FORESTS 

The  United  States  holds  as  na- 
tional forests  155  separate  areas  in 
the  United  States,  aggregating  184,- 
505,602  acres  of  land,  which  includes, 


preservation  of  the  forests.  Wood 
is  cut  and  sold,  mines  are  worked, 
water  power  is  developed,  sheep  and 
cattle  are  grazed  on  these  lands  as 
on  any  others,  the  difference  being 
that  in  the  national  forests  all  ac- 
tivities are  under  permits  and  the 
forests  therefore  under  protection. 


JiStMil^ 


RANGER    ON    FIRE    PATROL    DUTY    ON    THE    HIGHEST    RIDGE    OF    THE    CABINET 
NATIONAL   FOREST,    MONTANA 


however,  21,732,332  acres  of  pri- 
vately owned  land  within  national 
forest  borders.  The  net  amount 
owned  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment is  thus  162,773,280  acres  of 
land. 

Contrary  to  the  general  impres- 
sion, this  acreage  is  not  a  "reserve" 
— indeed,  the  name  "forest  reserve" 
gave  way  to  "national  forest"  to 
correct  that  impression.  The  na- 
tional forests  are  protected  from  fire, 
from  over-cutting,  from  exploitation 
indeed,  but  they  are  made  to  serve 
as  large  a  population  as  possible 
by  permitting  their  use  in  every 
possible  way  consistent  with  the 


ENGINES- UUMBEI?< 
J.35% 

CAUSES    OF    FOREST    FIRES 


FORESTS  AND  FORESTRY 


85 


The  most  recent  report  of  the  for- 
ester shows  that  the  regular  appro- 
priation for  1914  for  the  Forest 
Service  of  $5,662,094.13  was  not  suf- 
ficient, and  an  emergency  appropria- 
tion had  to  be  made  largely  on  ac- 
count of  a  very  dry  year  and  the 
increased  necessity  for  fire  protec- 
tion and  fire  fighting.  The  national 
forests,  however,  returned  to  the 
United  States  Treasury  during  the 
fiscal  year  the  sum  of  $2,481,469.35. 


foregone  to  sell  certain  lumber  at 
cost;  certain  free  grazing  privileges 
were  worth  in  excess  of  $120,000, 
and  other  privileges  are  believed  to 
have  a  market  value  of  $100,000  a 
year. 

During  the  year  1,093,589,000 
board  feet  of  timber  was  sold.  Forty 
thousand  and  fifteen  free-use  timber- 
cut  permits  were  issued  and  30,610 
permits  given  for  stock  grazing. 
One  million  six  hundred  and  twenty- 


WATER  POWER  ON  THE  NATIONAL  FORESTS,  JUNE  30,    1915 


PERMITS 

Transmis- 
sion lines 
only 

Power 
Projects, 
reservoirs, 
conduits, 
and  power 
houses 

Estimated 
average 
output  of 
stream 
at  minimum 
discharge 

Permits  in  force  on  June  30,  1915: 
Rental  permits 
Preliminary  ...                      .                ... 

19 

462,039 

Final 

92 

90 

728  893 

Free  permits  .                  

16 

73 

70,628 

Total  
Constructed  or  operating  on  June  30,  1915: 
Rental  permits  
Free  permits.  .  . 

108 

84 
13 

182 

GO 

48 

1,261,560 

335,435 

5,841 

Total 

97 

108 

341,276 

Under  construction  June  30,  1915: 
Rental  permits 

1 

15 

94,313 

Free  permits  

11 

1,326 

Total.'  
Construction  not  started  on  June  30,  1915: 
Rental  permits  
Free  permits. 

1 

7 
3 

26 

34 
14 

95,639 

761,184 
63,461 

Total.  . 

10 

48 

824,645 

Applications  received  July  1,  1914,  to 
June  30,  1915: 
Rental  permits 
Preliminary  
Final 

is 

21 
13 

Free  permits  

2 

13 

.      Total  

20 

47 

These  receipts  came  from  timber, 
$1,175,133.95 ;  grazing,  $1,130,495, 
and  special  uses,  $175,840.40. 

A  much  larger  showing  could  be 
made  were  it  not  for  the  generous 
policy  of  the  Government  which  per- 
mits certain  privileges  free  of 
charge.  During  the  year  over  $200,- 
000  worth  of  timber  was  given  away 
free  to  settlers ;  $33,000  of  profit  was 


seven  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-one  cattle,  96,933  horses, 
2,792  hogs,  7,232,276  sheep  and  51,- 
409  goats  were  fed  in  national  for- 
ests during  the  year.  Predatory 
animals,  including  bears,  coyotes, 
mountain  lions,  lynxes,  wildcats, 
wolves  and  wolf  pups  were  destroyed 
to  the  number  of  3,843,  the  number 
indicating  only  the  kill  by  forest 


OT'R  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


officers    in    connection    with    their 
work. 

Water  power  permits  are  shown 
in  the  table  on  page  85. 

FIRES 

Fires  in  national  forests  are 
guarded  against  with  every  possible 
care,  but  during  the  year  6,605  fires 
occurred.  Of  these,  3,253  burned 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  acre  be- 
fore being  extinguished,  1,807  burned 
less  than  ten  acres,  988  burned  less 
than  $100  worth  though  more  than 
ten  acres  in  extent,  458  fires  did 
damage  from  $100  to  $1,000  and  99 
did  damage  in  excess  of  ten  acres 
and  $1,000. 

A  strict  census  of  fire  causes 
shows  16.8  per  cent  caused  by  rail- 
roads, 30.77  per  cent  by  lightning, 
7.12  per  cent  by  incendiarism,  9.02 
per  cent  by  badly  controlled  brush- 
burning,  17.05  per  cent  by  careless 


campers,  1.35  per  cent  by  stationary 
steam  engines — sawmills,  donkey  en- 
gines, etc. — and  the  balance  of  17.89 
per  cent  miscellaneous  and  unknown 
causes. 

The  fires  burned  in  1914  225,979 
timber  acres.  The  open  area  affect- 
ed was  153,686  acres,  accounting  for 
a  loss  of  timber  burned  or  damaged 
of  339,430,000  board  feet.  The  loss 
of  money  is  estimated  to  be  $307,303 
for  the  destroyed  timber;  reproduc- 
tion destroyed,  $192,408,  and  forage 
loss,  $2,803.  The  service  expended 
in  fire  fighting,  outside  of  salaries  of 
regular  officers,  $685,790. 


NOTE. — It  is  impossible  to  give 
here  minute  details  of  all  the  activi- 
ties of  the  Forest  Service.  Seekers 
for  more  detailed  information  can 
readily  obtain  it  by  writing  to  the 
Forest  Service,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C, 


CHAPTER    VI. 


RECLAMATION  SERVICE 


By  CLAUDE  WASHINGTON 


IT  is  not  generally  understood 
that  the  Reclamation  Service  of 

the  United  States  is  primarily  a 
''home  making"  service,  nor  that  it 
does  not  compete  with  private  enter- 
prise. Such,  nevertheless,  are  the 
facts.  Early  irrigation  in  this  coun- 
try was  entirely  a  matter  of  co- 
operative effort  or  the  result  of  in- 
vestment by  private  or  corporate 
capital,  and  early  laws  to  encourage 
irrigation  of  arid  lands  all  contem- 
plated construction  financed  by  other 
than  governmental  money. 

The  increasing  difficulty  of  carry- 
ing out  large  projects  led  to  the 
passage  of  the  reclamation  act, 
which  enlists  national  funds  for  the 
development  of  projects  not  feasible 
by  private  or  State  enterprise. 

The  projects  undertaken  involved 
expensive  storage  works,  high  diver- 
sion dams,  difficult  tunnels,  or  long, 
expensive  canal  work  upon  side  hills, 


where  large  investment  was  neces 
sary  before  any  water  was  brought 
to  the  land.  Many  projects  dis- 
cussed in  the  early  days  of  reclama- 
tion work  were  rejected  by  the 
Reclamation  Service  because  deemed 
within  the  reach  of  private  invest- 
ment. Some  of  those  same  projects 
were  later  taken  up  by  the  Govern- 
ment after  years  of  unsuccessful 
effort  to  enlist  private  capital  in 
their  construction.  Practically  all 
of  the  projects  undertaken  by  the 
Reclamation  Service  had  been  aban- 
doned after  unsuccessful  attempts  to 
finance  them  as  private  projects,  or 
else  were  new  projects  too  difficult 
to  attract  the  attention  of  promoters. 
Remarkable  progress,  since  its  be- 
ginning in  1902,  has  been  made  by 
the  service,  and  at  the  present  time 
about  1,500,000  acres  are  under 
ditches  and  crops  are  being  produced 
yearly  on  more  than  a  million  acres. 


Same    Spot  1914 

UMATILLA    IRRIGATION    PROJECT.    OREGON 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


88 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


The  average  gross  return  per  acre 
from  these  lands  annually  is  about 
$25.  More  than  30,000  families  have 
been  established  in  homes  of  their 
own.  Cities,  towns  and  villages 
have  sprung  up  in  these  agricul- 
tural communities.  Railroads  have 
extended  their  branches,  and  a  vast 
region  which  a  few  years  ago  was 
uninhabited  and  a  desert  has  been 
transformed  into  a  prosperous  farm- 
ing country. 

The  table  below  shows  the  extent 
of  the  work  and  the  rate  of  progress 
during  a  recent  year. 


82  miles  of  railroad,  2,554  miles  of 
telephone  lines,  429  miles  of  power 
transmission  lines,  and  1,068  build- 
ings, such  as  power  houses,  pumping 
stations,  offices,  residences,  barns 
and  storehouses.  The  excavations 
of  rock  and  earth  in  all  the  work 
amount  to  130,149,368  cubic  yards. 

The  projects  now  under  way  or 
completed  embrace  approximately 
3,000,000  acres  of  irrigable  land, 
divided  into  60,000  farms  of  from 
10  to  160  acres  each.  During  the 
year  1915  water  was  available  from 
Government  ditches  for  1,450,407 


ITEMS 

To 
June  30,  1915 

To 
June  30,  1914 

Increase 

Acres 

Farms 

Acres 

Farms 

Acres 

Farms 

Estimated  area  29  projects  on  com- 
pletion .     .    . 

3,118,011 
1,450,407 

461,632 
626,371 

60,603 
29,017 

10,122 
13,008 

2,921,165 
1,343,193 

416,644 
566,843 

58,323 
27,115 

8,559 
12,416 

196,846 
107,214 

44,988 
59,528 

2,280 
1,902 

1,563 
592 

Estimated  area  to  which  service  was 
prepared  to  supply  water    

Under  contract  — 
Water  rights  .  .                    

Rental  contracts  etc 

Total  

1,088,003 

23,130 

983,487 

20,975 

104,516 

2,155 

Reservoir   capacity   available,    acre- 
feet 

6,500,360 

5  460  510 

1  039  850 

A  summation  of  the  work  to  the 
beginning  of  the  present  fiscal  year 
shows  that  the  service  has  dug  9,592 
miles  of  canals  and  ditches,  and  ex- 
cavated 89  tunnels  with  an  aggre- 
gate length  of  more  than  25  miles. 
Masonry,  earth,  crib  and  rock-filled 
dams  have  been  erected  with  a  total 
volume  of  12,200,000  cubic  yards, 
including  the  two  highest  dams  in 
the  world.  The  available  reservoir 
capacity  resulting  is  approximately 
6,500,000  acre  feet,  or  sufficient 
water  to  cover  the  States  of  New 
Jersey  and  Delaware  to  a  depth  of 
12  inches.  The  service  has  built 
4,622  bridges  with  a  total  length  of 
19  miles.  Its  culverts  number  5,714 
and  are  36  miles  in  length.  There 
are  now  in  operation  298  miles  of 
pipe  line  and  85  miles  of  flumes. 
The  service  has  built  784  miles  of 
wagon  road,  much  of  it  in  what  was 
before  inaccessible  mountain  regions ; 


acres  on  29,017  farms,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment was  under  contract  to  sup- 
ply water  to  1,088,003  acres. 

RESULTS    OF    RECLAMATION 

The  object  of  reclamation  is  home 
making  on   arid  lands — the  conver- 


INTERSTATE     CANAL,     NORTH     PLATTE 
PROJECT,    150  MILES   LONG 


RECLAMATION  SERVICE 


"FAT   HEN"   IS  AN  APACHE  AND  HARD 
WORKMAN 


neering  problems  involved  are  those 
of  settlement  and  successful  utiliza- 
tion of  the  irrigation  system  and 
water  supply  by  the  farmers.  With- 
out successful  agricultural  develop- 
ment a  project  may  be  a  failure, 
regardless  of  the  perfection  of  the 
engineering  work.  The  sufficiency 
of  the  water  supply  and  successful 
operation  of  the  irrigation  system 
are  only  incidental  to  the  ultimate 
object  sought  by  the  Government  as 
well  as  the  irrigator  and  the  success 
of  the  undertaking  is  inseparably 
connected  with  that  of  the  water 
user. 


IRRIGATION    AND    CROP    RESULTS    ON    GOVERNMENT    RECLAMATION 

PROJECTS,  1914* 


Value  of 

Crops 

PROJECT 

acreage 

Irrigated 
acreage 

Cropped 
acreage 

Total 

Per  acre 
cropped 

Salt  River 

187,112 

173  030 

169  719 

$4  039  079 

$23  80 

Yuma  
Orland  ...                        ... 

60,000 
14,300 

25,207 
7  354 

22,568 
6  540 

709,409 
176  331 

31.43 
26  99 

Uncompahgre  Valley  
Boise  

52,338 
207,000 

33,873 

33,091 

870,381 

26.30 

Farms  reported 

64  767 

58  064 

1  033  447 

17  80 

Farms  not  reported 

18  823 

16  868 

300  140 

17  80 

Minidoka  

117,090 

Gravity  unit  

45  730 

39  138 

661  796 

16  91 

South  side  pumping  unit 

35  788 

33  512 

558  059 

16  65 

Huntley  
Milk  River  

28,808 
13,440 

17,068 
2,201 

17,068 
2,163 

454,583 
34  618 

26.63 
16  00 

Sun  River  
Lower  Yellowstone 

16,346 
36  250 

6,613 
5  743 

6,561 
5  621 

106,594 
96  707 

16.25 
17  20 

North  Platte  
Truckee-Carson 

91,504 
52  039 

60,532 
39  516 

59,536 
39  285 

890,202 
441  018 

14.95 
11  23 

Carlsbad 

20  261 

12  690 

10  731 

237  663 

22   15 

Hondo  

1  9?4 

1  224 

1  172 

21  458 

18  31 

Rio  Grande  

40,000 

28,442 

27  302 

1,160  720 

42  51 

North  Dakota  pumping  .... 
Umatilla.  . 

12,239 
17  000 

1,056 
5  102 

1,045 
3  013 

36,440 
88  614 

34.87 
29  41 

Klamath  
Belle  Fourche 

38,000 
68  852 

24,440 
37  454 

24,440 
36  709 

347,344 
461  188 

14.22 
12  56 

Okanogan  
Yakima: 

10,099 

7,740 

3,180 

104,575 

32.88 
58  02 

Sunnyside  unit  
Tieton  unit  
Shoshone 

81,807 
34,000 
41  166 

64,052 
20,600 
22  226 

49,273 
15,920 
20  905 

2,858,845 
472,480 
313  826 

29.60 
15.01 

Total  .  .  . 

1  240  875 

761  271 

703  424 

16  475  517 

23  50 

*  Exclusive  of  projects  constructed  for  the  Indian  Service. 


sion  of  desert  tracts  into  self-sup- 
porting agricultural  communities. 
This  object  is  not  obtained  by  the 
construction  of  irrigation  works 
alone,  however  elaborate  or  efficient 
these  may  be  in  design  and  opera- 
tion. More  difficult  than  the  engi- 


To  show  progress  in  reclamation 
work  it  is  necessary  to  show  the  re 
suits  obtained  by  the  farmer  as  well 
as  those  of  the  engineer.  Reclama- 
tion is  measured  not  in  engineering 
units,  but  in  homes  and  agricultural 
values. 


90 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


NUMBER    AND    SIZE   OF   FARMS    AVAILABLE    FOR   ENTRY,    AUGUST    I,    1910 


STATE  . 

Project 

No.  of 
farms 

Size  of  farms 

Water  right 

Idaho  
Montana  
Montana 

Minidoka 
Huntley 
Sun  River 

26 
29 
26 
40 

40  to  80  acres 
40  acres 
40  acres 
40  to  80  acres 

$30  per  acre 
$45  per  acre* 
$60  per  acre* 
$36  per  acre 

Nebraska-  Wyoming  . 
South  Dakota  

Wyoming  
Nevada  

North  Platte 
Belle  Fourche 

Shoshone 
Truckee-Carson 

19 
59 

56 
112 

40  to  80  acres 
40  to  80  acres 

40  to  80  acres 
40  to  80  acres 

$55  per  acre 
$40  per  acr^ 
/$50,  $51  and 
\$52  per  Ecre 
$60  per  cere 

*  For  lands  under  the  Huntley  project  there  is  an  additional  charge  of  $4.00  i  er 
acre  for  the  land,  of  which  $1.00  is  payable  at  the  time  of  entry  and  the  remainder  in 
four  equal  annual  instalments.  For  information  concerning  these  projects  and  method 
of  obtaining  land  under  them,  or  any  additional  statistics  not  covered  in  this  brief  chapter, 
write  to  Statistician,  Reclamation  Service,  Interior  Department,  Washington,  D.  C. 


The  table  on  page  89,  therefore,  is 
even  more  illuminative  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  work  than  any  engineer- 
ing statistics  alone  can  possibly  be. 

By  no  means  all  available  lands 
embraced  in  the  various  projects  is 
taken  up,  and  every  effort  is  being 


made  by  the  service  to  see  that  they 
are  properly  and  successfully  set- 
tled. The  table  above  shows  tho 
number  of  farms  available  for 
entry,  August  1,  1916,  ,the  size  of 
the  farm  units  and  the  cost  of  water 
right 


FARM  HOUSES   ON   THE   SALT   RIVER   PROJECT,    SHOWING   IRRIGATING 
DITCH  FLOODING  ALFALFA 


RECLAMATION  SERVICE 


91 


POWER    DEVELOPMENT 

In  connection  with  the  construc- 
tion of  irrigation  work,  particularly 
of  dams  on  the  larger  rivers,  it  has 
been  necessary  to  develop  power. 
Power  plants  are  operated  princi- 
pally for  pumping  water  for  irriga- 
tion ;  incidentally  for  other  purposes, 
the  excess  power  being  sold  for  do- 
mestic or  industrial  uses,  such  as 
lighting,  heating,  cooking  and  opera- 
tion of  machinery.  Pumping  forms 
the  principal  use  of  the  electric 
power  development,  and  there  were 
installed  10,432  horse-power  in  per- 


hours  is  66,199,624,  and  the  cost  per 
kilowatt  hour  ranges  from  3.82  cents 
at  the  North  Dakota  Williston  plant 
down  to  0.111  cent  at  the  Minidoka 
plant. 

The  developed  power  not  needed 
for  irrigation  pumping  is  sold  to 
customers  for  construction,  for  camp 
lights  and  for  drainage  work  and 
results  in  a  gross  income  of  $249,174 
from  power  sales,  which  is  almost 
10  per  cent  on  cost  of  installation. 

But  all  these  figures  fade  into  in- 
significance when  consideration  is 
had  of  the  accompanying  table  show- 


_. 


UNDEVELOPED   HORSE-POWER 


PROJECT 

Name  of  plant 

Head, 

Feet 

Horse 
power 

Arizona-California,  Yuma  
Arizona-California,  Yuma  
California  

Drop,  California  Canal 
A  ray- 

9 
25 

27 

1,000 
7,700 
483 

Colorado,  Grand  Valley 

Main  Canal 

44 

3  600 

Colorado,  Uncompahgre  
Idaho,  Boise   .  . 

Arrowrock  Dam 

63-180 

10,000 
17  000 

Idaho,  Boise  
Idaho-Minidoka 

Drops  in  canals 
Minidoka  Dam 

20-90 
46 

4,800 
10  000 

Montana,  Flathead  (Indian)  
Montana,  Flathead  (Indian)  
Montana,  Huntley  
Montana-North  Dakota,  Lower  Yel- 
lowstone   

Flathead  River 
Revais  Creek 
Main  Canal  Drop 

Lateral  KK  drop 

60 
1,000 
34 

360,000 
26,000 
314 

290 

Nevada,  Truckee-Carson  
Nevada,  Truckee-Carson  
New  Mexico-Texas,  Rio  Grande.  .  .  . 
Oregon-California,  Klamath  
Oregon,  Umatilla  
Utah,  Strawberry  Valley  
Washington,  Okanogan  
Washington,      Yakima,      Sunnyside 
Unit  

Lahontan 
26-foot  drop 
Elephant  Butte  Dam 
Various  sites 
Drainage  outfall 
Spanish  Fork 
Salmon  Creek 

Drops  in  canal 

120 

26 
60-190 

22-88 
28 
125 
441 

20-88 

5,000 
2,000 
12,000 
9,700 
145 
1,900 
2,800 

1,800 

Washington,  Yakima,  Tieton  Unit.  . 

3,250 

Washington,  Wapato  

9,000 

Total  

488,782 

maneiit  pumping  plants  used  in 
1914,  in  addition  to  numerous  small 
drainage  installations  semi-portable 
and  intermittently  used.  The  cost 
of  raising  1  acre-foot  1  foot  ranges 
from  0.368  cent  to  2.10  cents. 

The  capacity  of  all  the  power 
plants  operated  by  the  service  was, 
in  1914,  27,134  kilowatts  from  37 
units.  The  water  head  ranges  from 
226  feet  at  the  Roosevelt  plant  to 
21  feet  at  the  Arizona  Falls  plant. 
The  total  cost  of  all  the  plants  was 
$2,542,159.  The  output  in  kilowatt 


ing  available  horse-power  subject  to 

development  but  not  yet  developed. 

FINANCES 

At  the  beginning  of  a  recent  fiscal 
year  the  service  had  $1,401,714.67 
cash  on  hand. . 

During  the  year  this  amount  was 
augmented  by  receipts  from  various 
sources  to  a  grand  total  of  $16,- 
446,794.66. 

Of  the  twenty  millions  authorized 
by  the  act  of  June  25,  1910,  eight 
and  one  half  millions  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  reclamation  fund. 


92 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


BOISE    IRRIGATION   PROJECT,    IDAHO.      HIGHEST    DAM   IN    THE    WORLD,    351    FEET 
FROM   BED   ROCK   TO   PARAPET,    1,060  FEET  LONG   ON   TOP 


Cash  expenditures  during  the 
fiscal  year  were  $14,213,172.90. 

Town-site  receipts  transferred  to 
the  credit  of  projects  were  $18,- 
436.28. 

The  balance  on  hand  at  the  close 
of  the  fiscal  year  amounted  to 
$2,215,185.48. 


By  the  processes  of  the  General 
Land  Office  and  the  Treasury  De- 
partment the  receipts  from  sales  of 
public  lands  are  held  in  the  Treas- 
ury from  six  to  nine  months  before 
they  are  placed  to  the  credit  of  the 
reclamation  fund.  Estimated  re- 
ceipts from  the  sale  of  public  lands 


ESTIMATED  COST  OP  CONTEMPLATED  WORK  ON  ALL  PROJECTS  DURING 

FISCAL  YEAR,   1916 

Examination  and  surveys 

Storage  systems 

Pumping  for  irrigation 

Canal  systems , 

Lateral  systems 

Drainage  systems 

Flood  protection 

Power  systems 

Farm  units 

Permanent  improvements  und  lands 

Telephone  systems 

Operation  and  maintenance: 


$151,680.45 

1,695,052.95 

7,500 . 00 

2,548,004.33 

1,900,991.73 

938,624.50 

286,175.00 

77,072.15 

59,046.10 

155,683.40 

29,137.00 


During  construction .  .  . 
Under  public  notice . 


SI, 053, 973 
838,405 


1,892,378.41 
692,100.00 
680,456.65 
Total $11,113,902.67 


Stores  and  other  operations 

Unallotted  to  features 


RECLAMATION  SERVICE 


93 


in  the  hands  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment on  June  30,  1915,  which  had 
not  been  credited  to  the  reclamation 
fund  amounted  to  approximately 
$1,670,000. 

The  reclamation  fund,  which  com- 
prises the  moneys  received  from  the 
sale  of  public  lands,  has  now  reached 
the  total  of  $85,914,493.36,  and  from 
the  sale  of  town-sites,  $280,723.94. 

Transfer  vouchers,  adjusting  ac- 
counts between  the  projects  for  the 
transfer  of  the  value  of  services 
and  equipment,  amounted  to  $615,- 
657.58  during  the  fiscal  year  1915. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  service 
the  value  of  the  transfers  of  sup- 
plies, materials,  equipment  and 
services  between  projects  has 


amounted  to  $5,006,759.37.  This 
system  of  transfers  between  projects 
enables  the  service  to  utilize  equip- 
ment, materials,  supplies,  etc.,  to 
their  fullest  extent  where  needed 
and  to  charge  the  cost  where  the 
benefit  accrues. 

ESTIMATED      COST      OF      CONTEMPLATED 
WORK 

It  is  estimated  that  during  1916 
the  sum  of  $11,113,902.67  will  be  ex- 
pended. The  table  on  page  92  gives 
the  tentative  distribution  of  this 
amount  to  the  various  functional 
features  of  all  projects,  including 
the  Blackfeet,  Flathead  and  Fort 
Peck  Indian  projects. 


ROOSEVELT     DAM,    ARIZONA 


Fountain    Geyser 
Haynes  Photo 


Old   Faithful 
Upper    Geyser    Basin 


CHAPTER    VII. 


OUR  NATIONAL  PARKS 


HOW  many  Americans  can  say 
offhand  how  many  national 
parks  we  have?  How  many 
can  name  the  national  monuments, 
or  explain  the  difference  between  a 
national  park  and  a  national  monu- 
ment? 

Very  few!  And  such  almost 
wholesale  ignorance  is  one  of  many 
reasons  why  a  Bureau  of  National 
Parks,  as  a  part  of  the  Interior  De- 
partment, has  for  many  years  been 
a  vital  necessity  and  why  every 
loyal  American,  whether  he  ever  sees 
a  national  park  or  not,  should  re- 
joice that  Congress  has  finally  pass- 
ed the  National  Parks  Service  Bill. 
This  bill,  far  reaching  in  import, 
reads  in  part  as  follows : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Con- 
gress assembled,  That  there  is  here- 
by created  in  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  a  service  to  be  called  the 
National  Park  Service,  which  shall 
be  under  the  charge  of  a  director, 
who  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Sec- 
retary. .  .  .  The  service  thus  es- 
tablished shall  promote  and  regu- 
late the  use  of  the  Federal  areas 
known  as  national  parks,  monuments 
and  reservations,  which  purpose  is 
to  conserve  the  scenery  and  the  nat- 
ural and  historic  objects  and  the 
wild  life  therein  and  to  provide  for 
the  enjoyment  of  the  same  in  such 
manner  and  by  such  means  as  will 
leave  them  unimpaired  for  the  en- 
joyment of  future  generations." 

As  yet  the  service  is  but  a  name, 
for  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress  has 
not  yet  provided  an  appropriation 


to  form  the  service.  But  everything 
is  ready  and  as  soon  as  the  money 
is  available  our  numerous  parks  and 
monuments  will  have  the  service  of 
their  own  they  have  so  long  needed. 
There  are  sixteen  national  parks 
at  present  in  existence,  the  first  of 


Photo  by  Lindley  Eddy 


SEQUOIA    "GENERAL    SHERMAN' 
Oldest  Tree  in  the  World 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


96 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


• 

NATIONAL  PARKS 
IN  ORDER  OF 

CREATION 

Location 

Area  in 
square 
miles 

Distinctive  Characteristics 

Hot  Springs,  1832  

Middle 
Arkansas 

~  1H 

46  hot  springs  possessing  curative  prftp- 
erties.     Many  hotels  and  boarding 
houses.    20  bath  houses  under  public 

control. 

Yellowstone,  1872  

North- 

3,348 

More  geysers  than  rest  of  the  world. 

western 

Boiling    springs.      Mud    volcanoes. 

Wyoming 

Petrified  forests.     Grand  Canyon  of 

the  Yellowstone,  remarkable  for  gor- 

geous coloring.    Large  lakes.    Many 

large  streams  and  waterfalls.     Vast 

wilderness  inhabited   by   deer,   elk, 

bison,  moose,  antelope,  bear,  moun- 

tain sheep,  beaver,  etc.,  constituting 

greatest  wild  bird  and  animal  pre- 

serve in  world.     Altitude  6,000  to 

11,000  feet.    Exceptional  trout  fish- 

ing. 

Yosemite,  1890.    

Middle- 

1,125 

Valley  of  world-famed  Beauty.     Lofty 

eastern 

cliffs.      Waterfalls  of  extraordinary 

California 

height.    3  groves  of  big  trees.     High 

Sierra.    Large  areas  of  snowy  peaks. 

Waterwheel  falls.     Good  trout  flsn- 

ing. 

Sequoia,  1890  

Middle- 

237 

The  Big  Tree  national  park.     12,000 

eastern 

sequoia  trees  over  10  feet  in  diameter, 

California 

some  25  to  36  feet  in  diameter.  Tow- 

ering   mountain   ranges.      Startling 

precipices.     Fine  trout  fishing. 

General  Grant,  1890.  .  .  . 

Middle- 

4 

Created    to    preserve    the    celebrated 

eastern 

General  Grant  tree,  35  feet  in  diam- 

California 

eter.    6  miles  from  Sequoia  National 

Park  and  under  same  management. 

Casa  Grande  Ruin,  1892. 

Arizona 

y* 

Prehistoric  Indian  ruin. 

Mount  Rainier,  1899  

West- 

324 

Largest  accessible  single  peak  glacier 

central 

system.     28  glaciers,  some  of  large 

Washington 

size,  fifty  to  five  hundred  feet  thick. 

Wonderful    sub-alpine    wild    flower 

fields. 

Crater  Lake  1902  

South- 

77 

Lake  of  extraordinary  blue  in  crater  of 

western 

extinct  volcano,  no  inlet,  no  outlet. 

Oregon 

Sides   1,000  feet  high.     Interesting 

lava  formations.    Fine  trout  fishing. 

Wind  Cave,  1903  

South 

16M 

Large  natural  cavern. 

Dakota 

Sullys  Hill,  1904  

North 

6J4 

Wooded  hilly  tract  on  Devil's  Lake. 

Dakota 

Mesa  Verde,  1906  

South- 

77 

Most  notable  and  best  preserved  pre- 

western 

historic    cliff    dwellings    in    United 

Colorado 

States,  if  not  in  the  world. 

Platt,  1906  

Southern 

11A 

Many  sulphur  and  other  springs  pos- 

Oklahoma 

sessing  medicinal  value,  under  Gov- 

ernment regulation. 

Glacier,  1910  

North- 

1,534 

Rugged    mountain    region    of    Alpine 

western 

character.    250  glacier-fed  lakes.    60 

Montana 

small   glaciers.      Peaks   of   unusual 

shape.     Precipices  thousands  of  feet 

deep.     Scenery  of  marked  individ- 
uality.   Fine  trout  fishing. 

Rocky  Mountain,  1915.  . 

North 

358 

Heart  of  the  Rockies.     Snowy  range, 

middle- 

peaks  11.000  to  14,250  feet  altitude. 

Colorado 

Remarkable  records  of  glacial  period. 

Hawaiian,  1916  

Hawaiian 

56 

Three  volcanoes.    Lake  of  blazing  lava. 

Islands 

Tropical  forests. 

Lassen,  1916  

California 

106 

Volcano  —  only   one  in   United   States 

potentially  active. 

NATIONAL  PARKS 


97 


which  was  Hot  Springs,  in  Arkansas, 
created  in  1832;  the  most  recent, 
Hawaii  National  Park  and  Lassen 
National  Park,  being  creations  of 
the  Sixty-fourth  Congress,  the  bills 
for  the  two  parks  being  approved 
August  1  and  9,  1916,  respectively. 

The  first  purposes  of  the  parks  are 
the  preservation  of  scenic  beauty 
and  natural  wonders  for  educational 
and  recreation  purposes.  They  make 
wonders  of  certain  regions  free  to 
all  the  country;  indeed,  to  all  the 
world. 

Though  Hot  Springs  was  the  first 
of  all  the  parks,  it  was  the  creation 
of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 
in  Wyoming,  Montana  and  Idaho, 
by  the  act  of  March  1,  1872,  which 
really  marked  the  beginning  of  a 
policy  on  the  part  of  Congress  of 
setting  aside  tracts  of  land  as  recre- 
ation grounds  for  all  the  people. 

More  and  more  are  we  coming  to 
know  what  we  possess  in  these  parks 
and  the  war  abroad  taught  us  afresh 
that  Europe  has  nothing  in  scenery 
more  worth  seeing  than  what  we 
have  at  home.  In  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park  there  were  20,250  vis- 
itors in  1914,  and  in  1915  two  and 
one-half  times  as  many,  51,895., 
Yosemite  National  Park  in  Cali- 
fornia had  33,452  visitors  during  the 
1915  season,  whereas  in  1914  only 
15,145  persons  visited  the  park. 
Again,  in  Mount  Rainier  National 
Park,  Washington,  there  has  been  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  visitors 


of  over  100  per  cent — 35,166  in  1915 
as  against  15,038  in  1914. 

But  it  has  been  discovered  that 
national  parks  have  a  distinct  com- 
mercial value,  as  well  as  an  educa- 
tional and  recreative  one.  The  parks 
produce  an  ever  increasing  revenue 
from  tourist  traffic,  one  of  the  most 
satisfactory  means  of  revenue  a  na- 
tion can  have.  The  tourist  leaves 
large  sums  of  money  but  takes  away 
nothing  which  makes  the  nation 
poorer.  He  goes  away  with  im- 
proved health,  with  a  recollection  of 
enjoyment  of  unequaled  wonders  of 
mountain,  forest,  stream  and  sky,  of 
vitalizing  ozone  and  stimulating 
companionship  with  nature;  but  of 
the  natural  wealth  he  takes  nothing. 

The  commercial  potentialities  of 
tourist  traffic  are  startling.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  time  of  peace 
Switzerland's  annual  revenue  from 
tourists  is  $150,000,000,-  that  of 
France  $600,000,000;  little  Italy's, 
$100,000,000.  It  is  claimed  that  Amer- 
icans have  spent  $500,000,000  a  year 
in  travel  abroad.  The  pine  woods  of 
Maine  are  estimated  to  bring  a  rev- 
enue of  $40,000,000  each  year  on  ac- 
count of  the  visitors  they  attract, 
and  the  orange  blossoms  of  Florida 
are  worth  more  to  her  than  the 
products  of  her  soil.  Every  dollar, 
therefore,  which  is  spent  by  the  na- 
tion on  national  parks  may  be  con- 
sidered an  investment  which  is  like- 
ly to  bring  in  a  very  satisfactory  re- 
turn upon  the  money  invested. 


VISITORS  TO  NATIONAL  PARKS,  1908  TO  1915 


NAME  OF  PARK 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 

Yellowstone  National 

19  542 

32  545 

19  575 

23,054 

22,970 

24,929 

20,250 

51,895 

Yosemite  National  

8,850 

13,182 

13,619 

12,530 

10,884 

13,735 

15,145 

33,452 

Sequoia  National  
General  Grant  National  
Mount  Rainier  National  
Mesa  Verde  National 

1,251 
1,773 
3,511 
80 

854 
798 
5,968 
165 

2,407 
1,178 
8,000 
250 

3,114 
2,160 
10,306 
206 

2,923 
2,240 
8,946 
230 

3,823 
2,756 
13,501 
280 

4,667 
3,735 
15,038 
502 

7,647 
10,523 
35,166 
663 

Crater  Lake  National  :  
Wind  Cave  National 

5,275 
3  171 

4,171 
3  216 

5.000 
3  387 

4,500 
3  887 

5,235 
3  199 

6,253 
3,988 

7,096 
3,592 

11,371 

2,817 

Platt  National  
Sullys  Hill  National 

26,000 
250 

25,000 
190 

25,000 
190 

30,000 
200 

31,000 
200 

35,000 
300 

30,000 
500 

20,000 
1,000 

Hot  Springs  Reservation  
Glacier  National  

120,000 

130,000 
4,000 

135,000 
6,257 

135,000 
12,138 

125,000 
14,168 

115,000 
14,265 

Rooky  Mountain  National 

31.000 

NATIONAL  PARKS 


THE  ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  TOURIST  TRAVEL  TO  NATIONAL  PARKS 


PARK 

Number 
of  visitors 
(seasons) 

Estimated 
gross  receipts 
by  concession- 
aires (seasons) 

Federal 
appropriations 
(fiscal 
years) 

Revenues 
(fiscal 

years) 

Yellowstone: 
1912  
1913  
1914 

22,970 
24,929 
20  250 

$1,067,161.34 
1,186,811.36 
848,688  44 

$8,500  .  00 
8,500  .  00 
8  500  00 

$16,  476.38 
21,980.10 
15  439  23 

1915  

51,895 

2,003,072.35 

8,500.00 

20,307   40 

Yosemlte: 
1912  ,  

10,884 

311,444.32 

50,000  .  00 

23,855.77 

1913  
1914 

13,735 
15  145 

359,481.45 
334  914  32 

80,000  .  00 
125  000  00 

19,495.83 
23  406   14 

1915  
Mount  Rainier: 
1912  
1913 

33,452 

8,946 
13  501 

629,929.31 

56,735.92 
66  942  76 

100,000.00 

5,400.00 
20,000  00 

37,019.20 

5,370.36 
7,301   62 

1914  
1915 

15,038 
35  166 

61,078.08 
138,120  23 

23,400.00 
51,000.00 

9,040.10 
12,893.29 

Glacier. 
1912 

6  257 

69,200  .  00 

1,490.94 

1913  
1914  
1915  

12,138 
14,168 
14,265 

161,510.87 
155,716.14 
276,611.54 

75,000  .  00 
100,000  .  00 
75,000  .  00 

4,652.14 
4,010.71 
4,218.51 

That  this  is  not  a  mere  specula- 
tion is  shown  in  the  table  above, 
totaling  the  economic  value  of  tour- 
ist travel  to  Yellowstone,  Yosemite, 
Glacier  and  Mount  Rainier  national 
parks  during  the  past  four  years, 
together  with  the  revenues. 

The  national  parks  cover  an  area 
of  more  than  4,700,000  acres.  If  all 
were  put  together  it  would  mean  an 
area  of  more  than  7,300  square  miles, 
practically  as  large  as  New  Jersey. 
The  Yellowstone  National  Park,  con- 
taining more  than  3,300  square  miles, 
is  as  big  as  many  of  the  independent 
European  principalities  that  warred 
with  each  other  for  centuries  before 
the  genius  of  Bismarck  united  them 
into  a  great  empire. 

Such  a  group  of  scenic  areas,  de- 
veloped and  handled  after  the  fash- 
ion of  Switzerland,  would  constitute 
a  national  economic  asset  of  incal- 
culable value. 

It  is  not  for  their  educational,  re- 
creative, or  economic  value  alone, 
however,  that  the  national  parks 
must  be  regarded.  The  conservation 
of  wild  life  is  a  feature  not  to  be 
despised.  Free  as  most  of  the  parks 
are  from  public  lumbering  and  pri- 
vate grazing  enterprises,  and  pro- 
tected from  hunting  of  any  kind, 


they  have  the  conditions  essential 
for  the  protection  and  propagation  of 
wild  animal  life.  Eventually  they 
will  become  great  public  nature 
schools  to  which  teachers  and  stu- 
dents of  animal  life  will  repair 
yearly  for  investigation  and  study. 

The  enormous  increase  of  wild 
animals  in  the  Yellowstone  since  it 
became  a  national  park  in  1872 
points  the  way.  Deer,  elk,  moose, 
bison  and  antelope  here  abound  in 
greater  numbers,  no  doubt,  than  be- 
fore the  days  of  the  white  man ; 
and  many  of  them  have  become  al- 
most as  fearless  of  man  as  animals 
in  captivity.  From  here  many  State, 
county  and  city  parks  have  been 
supplied,  under  proper  restrictions, 
with  surplus  animals  for  propaga- 
tion purposes.  When  interfering 
private  holdings  are  extinguished  in 
other  national  parks,  and  United 
States  laws  made  to  supersede  State 
laws  (a  condition  the  newly  author- 
ized Park  Service  will  strive  to  bring 
about),  these,  too,  will  become  cen- 
ters of  animal  preservation  as  effec- 
tive as  the  Yellowstone. 

By  an  act  approved  June  8,  1906, 
entitled  "An  act  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  American  antiquities,"  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is 


TOO 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


VALLEY  OF  ENCHANTMENT,  NEAR  THE  CREST  OF  THE  SIERRA  NEVADAS, 
YOSEMITE    NATIONAL    PARK 


NATIONAL    PARKS 


101 


authorized,  "in  his  discretion,  to  de- 
clare by  public  proclamation  historic 
landmarks,  historic  and  prehistoric 
structures,  and  other  objects  of  his- 
toric or  scientific  interest,  that  are 
situated  upon  the  lands  owned  or 
controlled  by  the  Government  of  the 


United  States,  to  be  national  monu- 
ments." 

There  are  now  thirty  such  national 
monuments,  two  which  did  exist  hav- 
ing been  eliminated  with  the  crea- 
tion of  Lassen  National  Park. 


NATIONAL  MONUMENTS  ADMINISTERED  BY  INTERIOR   DEPARTMENT 


NAME 

State 

Date 

Area 

Devil's  Tower 

"Wyoming 

Sept  24   1906 

Acres 
1  152 

Montezuma  Castle  

Arizona 

Dec.     8,  1906 

160 

ElMorro  
Chaco  Canyon  
Muir  Woods 

New  Mexico 
New  Mexico 
California 

Dec.     8,  1906 
Mar.  11,  1907 
Jan       9   1908 

160 
20,629 
295 

Pinnacles  
Tumacacori  
Mukuntuweap  
Shoshone  Cavern  
Natural  Bridges  
Gran  Quivira  
Sitka                    

California 
Arizona 
Utah 
Wyoming 
Utah 
New  Mexico 
Alaska 

Jan.   16,  1908 
Sept.  15,  1908 
July  31.  1909 
Sept.  21,  1909 
Sept.  25,  1909 
Nov.     1,1909 
Mar.  23,  1910 

2,0*0 
10 
15,840 
210 
2,740 
160 
57 

Rainbow  Bridge  
Lewis  and  Clark  Cavern  
Colorado 

Utah 
Montana 
Colorado 

May  30,  1910 
May  16,  1911 
May  24  1911 

160 
160 
13  883 

Petrified  Forest  
Navajo 

Arizona 
Arizona 

July  31,  1911 
Mar.  14,  1912 

25,625 
360 

Papago  Saguaro  
Dinosaur  

Arizona 
Utah 

Jan.   31,  1914 
Oct.      4,  1915 

2,050 
80 

Sieur  de  Monts  

Maine 

July     8,  1916 

5,000 

ADMINISTERED  BY  AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENT 


NAME 

State 

Date 

Area 

Cila  Cliff  Dwellings  

New  Mexico 

Nov.  16,  1907 

Acres 
160 

Tonto  

Arizona 

Dec.  19,  1907 

640 

Grand  Canyon  
Jewel  Caves                                        •  •  • 

Arizona 
South  Dakota 

Jan.   11,  1908 
Feb.     7,  1  908 

806,400 
1,280 

Wheeler  
Oregon  Caves  
Devil  Postpile  
Mount  Olympus  

Colorado 
Oregon 
California 
Washington 

Dec.     7,  1908 
July  12,  1909 
July     6,  1911 
April  17,  1912 

300 
480 
800 
299,370 

ADMINISTERED  BY  WAR  DEPARTMENT 


NAVE 

State 

Date 

Area 

Big  Hole  Ba 
Cabrillo 

ttle  Field  

Montana 
California 

June  23,  1910 
Oct.   14,  1913 

Acres 
5 
1 

,  m 


Golden    Gate 
Eagle    Rest    Rock 

SOME  OF  THE  SPLENDORS  OF  OUB,  NATION  AL  PARKS 


Great   Falls   of   the   Yellowstone 
Cleopatra   Terrace 


CHAPTER    V11I. 

GOOD  ROADS  AND  BAD 


THERE   are  2,273,131   miles  of 
public    roads    in    the    United 
States.    Of  these,  10.9  per  cent 
(a  total  of  247,490  miles)    are  sur- 
faced  roads — roads   other   and   pre- 


next  with  51.7,  followed  by  Indiana 
42.3,  Ohio  33.S,  New  Jersey  30.3  and 
New  York  27.9  per  cent. 

Nebraska    is    at    the    foot    of   the 
list  with   a   percentage  of  0.3,   rep- 


THE    SLOUGH    OF    DESPOND 


LIFE    AND    PLEASURE    IN    GOOD    ROADS 


snmably   better   than   mere  cuttings 
in  the  dirt. 

Rhode  Island  leads  all  the  Union 
in  good  roads,  with  a  percentage  of 
58.8  per  cent.  Massachusetts  comes 


resenting  250  miles  of  surfaced  roads 
out  of  a  total  of  80,338.  Other  back- 
ward States  are  Nevada,  0.5  per 
cent,  Montana  0.4  per  cent,  and 
Kansas  1  per  cent. 


THE  BURDEN  OF  BAD  ROADS 


EASY  HAULAGE 


Copyright    by    Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


104 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


POOR  ROADS— FARM  TO  RAILROAD—  GOOD  ROADS— FARM  TO  RAILROAD- 
COSTLY  WAY  CHEAP  WAY 


Ohio  has  the  greatest  good  road 
mileage,  with  28,312,  Nevada  the 
least,  with  65  miles.  Texas  has  the 
greatest  total  mileage  with  128,971, 
Rhode  Island  the  least  with  2,121. 

During  the  past  twenty  years 
State  governments  have  been  active 
in  a  constantly  increasing  measure 
in  behalf  of  road  improvement.  To 
January  1,  1915,  expenditures  aggre- 
gating $211,S£9,163  had  been  made 
from  the  appropriations  by  the  legis- 
latures of  39  States.  With  these 
funds  improved  roads  to  the  extent 
of  35,477  miles  have  been  construct- 
ed during  this  period  of  twenty 
years  at  an  average  expenditure  of 
$5,970  per  mile.  Yet  we  have  not 
good  roads — and  we  are  paying  the 
price.  We  pay  in  money,  in  lives, 
in  ignorance,  in  labor,  in  taxes,  and 
in  high  cost  of  living. 


Considering  only  a  few  phases  of 
the  subject,  the  investigator  is 
struck  with  the  universal  effect  of 
good  roads. 

Data  obtained  from  the  Twelfth 
Census,  compared  with  the  road 
statistics,  show  clearly  the  relation- 
ship between  illiteracy  and  bad 
•  roads.  Many  factors  contribute  to 
produce  illiteracy,  but  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  where  one  is  found,  there 
is  usually  the  other.  In  Arkansas, 
Missouri,  Mississippi  and  North 
Carolina,  where  less  than  2  per  cent 
of  the  roads  are  improved,  there 
were  374,788  native  born  white  il- 
literates in  1900,  out  of  a  total  pop- 
ulation of  7,800,000,  whereas  in 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
Jersey  and  Rhode  Island,  where  30 
per  cent  of  the  roads  are  improved, 
there  were  only  20,500  native  born 


A   ROAD    BEFORE    IMPROVEMENT 


THE     SAME    ROAD    AFTER     IMPROVE- 
MENT—CLAY    AND      GRAVEL 
CONSTRUCTION 


GOOD  ROADS  AND  BAD 


105 


LIMIT     OF     TWO-HORSE     TEAM     OVER    TWELVE     BALES     OF     COTTON     ON     A 
BAD   ROAD— TWO   BALES    OF    COTTON  MACADAM    ROAD 

ESTIMATED   1915  COST  OF  MARKETING  SIX  OF  THE  MORE 
IMPORTANT  CROPS 


Pro- 

U.S. 

Wt. 

por- 

Tonnage 

Aver- 

Cost 

Total 

Crop 

Production 
1915 

per 
unit 

Production 

tion 
over 

over 
Roads 

age 
haul 

Ton 
Mileage 

TPM. 

Hauling 
Cost 

roads 

Bus. 

Lbs. 

Tons 

Tons 

Miles 

Ton  Miles 

Corn.  .  . 

3,054,535,000 

70 

106,908,690 

.144 

15,394,851 

7.4 

113,921,897 

.19 

$21,645,159 

Wheat.... 

1,011,505,000 

60 

30,345,150 

1.00 

30,345,150 

9.4 

285,244,410 

.19 

54,196,438 

Oats  

1,540,362,000 

35 

26,956,335 

.28 

7.547,774 

7.3 

55,098,749 

.19 

10,468,762 

Potatoes..  . 

433,398,000 

60 

13,001,940 

.75 

9,751,455 

8.2 

79,961,931 

.22 

17,591,625 

Cotton  

11,161,000 

1,500 

8,370,750 

1.00 

8,370,750 

11.1 

92,915,325 

.28 

26,016,291 

Hay  

85,225,000 

2,000 

85,225,000 

.17 

14,488,250 

8.3 

120,252,475 

.19 

22,847,969 

Totals... 

270,807,865 

85,898,230 

747,394,787 

$152,766,244 

white  illiterates  in   1900,   out  of  a 
total  population  of  6,025,000. 

The  cost  of  poor  roads  is  a  ter- 
rific item  in  high  cost  of  living.  It 
costs  more  to  ship  a  ton  of  cotton 
from  farm  to  railroad  than  from 
New  York  to  London,  as  is  plainly 


shown  for  six  great  shippings  in  the 
table  above. 

Of  the  3,114,300  autos  in  the  world 
this  country  possesses  2,400,000 — 
more  than  one  for  every  mile  of 
road.  In  1916,  1,200,000  more  will 
be  manufactured.  Imagine  the  cost 


SMALL    ROAD    TAX— NO    SAVING 


FAIR   ROAD    TAX-NO   LOSSES 


>   II  j 


^     jg|(  «y  j 

jJlliiyi 

%  sis 


•> 


GOOD  ROADS  AND  BAD 


107 


POOR     ROAD— TIME     IS     MONEY— A 
DELAY 


GOOD     ROAD-TIME     IS     MONEY-THEY 
GOT    THERE 


in  depreciation  of  these  cars  due  to 
poor  roads.  If  the  cars  average 
$500  each  in  value,  and  bad  roads 
cost  10  per  cent  depreciation,  these 
scrapped  cars,  due  to  poor  roads, 
cost  the  United  States  $120,000,000 
per  year,  more  than  half  what  has 
been  spent  on  good  roads  in  twenty 
years ! 

Now  the  Federal  Government  has 
taken  hold  of  the  problem  and  the 
sum  of  $85,000,000  of  Federal  funds 
was  made  available  for  constructing 
rural  roads  by  the  Federal  Aid  Road 
Bill,  which  became  a  law  July  11, 
1916.  For  the  construction  of  rural 
post  roads  under  co-operative  ar- 
rangements with  the  highway 
departments  of  the  various  States, 
$75,000,000  is  to  be  spent,  the  re- 
maining $10,000,000  being  for  roads 
and  trails  within  National  forests. 
The  Federal  Government's  share  in 


co-operation  with  the  States  is  to 
be  50  per  cent  of  the  cost. 

Five  million  dollars  is  available 
for  expenditure  before  June  30,  1917 
Appropriations  increase  at  the  rate 
of  five  millions  a  year  until  1921. 
when  twenty-five  millions  is  provid- 
ed, making  a  total  of  seventy-five 
millions.  One  million  'dollars  a  year 
for  ten  years  is  for  the  development 
of  roads  and  trails  within  National 
forests.  The  class  of  roads  to  be 
built  and  the  method  of  construction 
are  to  be  mutually  agreed  upon  by 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  the 
State  highway  departments. 

The  Act  provides  that  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  shall  apportion 
the  appropriation  in  the  following 
manner : 

One-third  in  the  ratio  the  area  of 
each  State  bears  to  the  total  area  of 
all  the  States ; 


SCHOOL     CHILDREN     ON     BAD    ROAD 


THE     KIND     OF     SCHOOL     AND     ROAD 
EVERY  BOY  AND    GIRL   IS 
ENTITLED   TO 


108 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


One-third  in  the  ratio  the  popula- 
tion of  each  State  bears  to  the  total 
population  of  all  the  States; 

One-third  in  the  ratio  the  mileage 
of  rural  delivery  routes  and  star 
routes  in  each  State  bears  to  the 
total  mileage  of  rural  delivery 
routes  and  star  routes  in  all  the 
States. 

States  securing  Federal  aid  must 
make  needed  repairs  and  maintain 
a  reasonably  smooth  surface,  but  are 
not  obliged  to  make  extraordinary 
repairs  or  undertake  reconstruction. 


A  TRACTOR  ROAD   GRADER 

The  Secretary  of  Agriculture, 
July  21,  1916,  certified  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  and  the  gov- 
ernors and  State  highway  depart- 
ments of  the  several  States  the  ap- 
portionment of  the  first  $5,000,000. 
In  accordance  with  the  Act,  3  per 
cent,  or  $150,000,  needed  for  ad- 
ministration was  deducted.  The 
several  States  are  eligible  for  the 
following  amounts : 


Alabama 

Ar  izona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts. . . 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire . 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico .... 

New  York 

North  Carolina.  . 
North  Dakota..  . 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania. . .  . 
Rhode  Island .... 
South  Carolina .  . 
South  Dakota.  .  . 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah ! 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington 

West  Virginia .  .  . 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


$104,148.90 

68,513.52 

82,689.10 

151,063.92 

83,690.14 

31,090.44 

8,184.37 

55,976.27 

134,329.48 

60,463 . 50 

220,926 . 23 

135,747.62 

146,175.60 

143,207.40 

97,471.91 

67,474 . 66 

48,451.50 

44,047 . 22 

73,850.95 

145,783 . 72 

142,394.06 

88,905.84 

169,720.41 

98,287.19 

106,770.81 

64,398.30 

20,996 . 62 

59,212.68 

78,737.81 

250,720.27 

114,381.92 

76,143.06 

186,905.42 

115,139.00 

78,687.37 

230,644.17 

11,665.71 

71,807.64 

80,946.02 

114,153.48 

291,927.81 

56,950.15 

22,844.47 

99,660.78 

71,884.25 

53,270.41 

128,361.82 

61,196.07 


Total $4,850,000 . 00 


HAULING  22y8   YARDS  OF  CRUSHED  ROCK 


GHAPTEK    IX. 


THE  PANAMA  CANAL 


ON    May    4,    1904,    the    United 
States    took    possession    of    a 
narrow  strip  of  land  ten  miles 
wide,  crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama,   called    the    Canal    Zone.      On 
August  15,  1914,  the  Panama  Canal 
was  opened  to  commerce.     Between 
these  two  dates  lie  all  the  wonder 
of  the  construction  of  the  greatest 
engineering  feat  of  all  time. 

But  that  story  has  been  told  and 
retold.  What  concerns  us  now  is 
what  the  canal  accomplishes,  how  it 
does  its  work,  what  it  costs — what 
it  is  worth. 

DISTANCES 

The  distance  by  water  around 
South  America  is  10,500  nautical 
miles  from  Colon  (Atlantic)  to  Bal- 
boa (Pacific).  By  canal  the  dis- 
tance between  the  same  two  points 
is  44  miles. 

The  difference  in  length  of  these 
routes,  10,456  miles,  represents  the 
maximum  distance  that  can  be 
saved  to  a  vessel  by  use  of  the 
canal. 

So  far  in  the  use  of  the  canal, 
over  40  per  cent  of  the  vessels  which 
have  passed  through  it  have  been 
engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  of 
the  United  States — each  of  them  sav- 
ing about  7,800  miles  on  each  trip. 
If  their  average  speed  be  taken  at 
ten  knots,  they  have  averaged  a 
saving  of  over  a  month  at  sea 
on  each  voyage  from  coast  to 
coast.  Where  formerly  the  round 
trip  of  a  ten-knot  vessel  required 
about  fifty-five  days'  actual  steam- 
ing, the  time  at  sea  for  the  same 


trip    for    the    same    vessel    is    now 
reduced  to  about  twenty-two  days. 

SPEED 

The  transit  of  the  canal  requires 
about  10  hours,  of  which  approxi- 
mately 3  hours  are  spent  in  the 
locks.  In  the  sea-level  channels  and 
Gaillard  (formerly  "Culebra")  Cut, 
speed  is  limited  to  6  knots;  through 
Gatun  Lake  they  may  make  10,  12, 


Photo  Underwood  &  Underwood 

STEAMSHIP  "ALLIANCE,"  FIRST  OCEAN- 

GOING    VESSEL    TO    PASS    THROUGH 

THE  PANAMA  CANAL,  JUNE  8,  1914 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


110 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


and  15  knots,  according  to  the  width 
of  the  channel. 

Handling  a  vessel  through  the 
canal  is  essentially  the  same  as  in 
any  charted  channel.  The  canal 
channel  is  accurately  charted,  fully 
equipped  with  aids  to  navigation, 
and  governed  by  rules  which  the 
pilot,  one  of  whom  must  be  on  any 
vessel  going  through,  enforces. 

LOCKING    THROUGH 

As  a  vessel  approaches  the  locks, 
the  operator  at  the  control  house 
indicates  by  an  electrically  operated 
signal  if  the  vessel  shall  enter  the 
locks,  on  which  side,  or  if  it  shall 
keep  back,  or  moor  alongside  the  ap- 
proach wall.  If  everything  is  ready 
for  the  transit  of  the  locks,  the 
vessel  approaches  the  center  ap- 
proach wall,  a  pier  extending  a 
thousand  feet,  and  connections  are 
made  with  the  electric  towing  loco- 
motive. 

The  vessel  then  moves  forward 
slowly  until  it  is  in  the  entrance 
chamber,  when  lines  are  thrown  out 
on  the  other  side  and  connections' 
are  made  with  towing  locomotives 
on  the  side  wall,  six  for  the  larger 
vessels,  three  on  each  wall  of  the 
lock  chamber.  Two  keep  forward  of 
the  vessel,  holding  her  head  to  the 
center  of  the  chamber;  two  aft, 
holding  the  vessel  in  check ;  and  two 
slightly  forward  of  amidships,  which 
do  most  of  the  towing.  The  loco- 
motives are  secured  against  slip- 


STEAM     SHOVELS     AT     WORK    ON    THE 

PANAMA     CANAL     CUXEBRA     CUT 

MAY   20,    1913 


Photo   Underwood   &   Underwood 


BLOWING  UP  A  DIKE   ON  THE  PANAMA 
CANAL 


ping  by  cogs  in  a  rack.  They  are 
equipped  with  a  towing  windlass, 
which  allows  the  prompt  paying  out 
and  taking  in  of  hawser. 

The  water  within  the  lock  cham- 
ber proper,  beyond  the  entrance 
chamber,  is  brought  to  the  level  of 
that  in  the  approach,  the  gates  to- 
ward the  vessel  are  opened,  a  fender 
chain  is  lowered,  and  the  locomo- 
tives maneuver  the  vessel  into  the 
chamber.  The  gates  are  closed,  the 
water  raised  or  lowered  to  the  level 
of  the  next  chamber,  the  gates  at  the 
other  end  are  opened,  and  the  ves- 
sel moved  forward.  Three  such 
steps  are  made  at  Gatun,  two  at 
Miraflores,  and  one  at  Pedro  Miguel. 

TRAFFIC 

Ocean-going  vessels  to  the  number 
of  787  passed  through  the  canal  from 
July  1,  1915,  to  June  30.  1916.  Their 
aggregate  net  tonnage  was  2,479,761. 
Cargo  carried  through  the  canal  on 
these  ships  amounted  to  3,140,046 
tons,  and  the  ships  paid  in  tolls 
$2,399,830.42. 

The  canal  was  closed  in  Septem- 
ber, 1915,  and  remained  closed,  ex- 
cept for  the  transit  of  small  ves- 
sels which  had  waited  at  the  en- 
trances for  passage,  until  the  mid- 


OPERATION  OF  MIRAFLORES  LOCKS— "PRESIDENTE  SARMIENTO"  ENTERING  UPPER- 

EAST  CHAMBER,   JULY  14,    1915 

S.S.   "CRISTOBAL"   IN  PEDRO   MIGUEL  LOCKS  ON  RETURN  TRIP  THROUGH  CANAL, 

AUGUST  4,    1914 


112 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


die  of  April.  The  operations  were 
thus  normal  for  slightly  less  than 
half  the  year. 

The  number  of  ships  which  passed 
through  the  canal  during  the  pre- 
ceding fiscal  year  was  1,088,  aggre- 
gate net  tonnage  3,843,035,  cargo 
carried  through  4,969,792  tons.  Their 
tolls  amounted  to  $4,343,383.69,  after 
all  refunds  had  been  made. 

Traffic  in  two  years  is  shown  be- 
low : 


TOLLS 

Canal  tolls  are  as  follows : 
Merchant    vessels,    passengers    or 
cargo,  per  net  ton    (each  100  cubic 
feet)     of    actual    earning    capacity, 
$1.20. 

Vessels  in  ballast,  no  passengers 
or  cargo,  per  ton  75  cents. 

Naval  vessels,  other  than  trans- 
ports, colliers,  hospital  ships,  and 
supply  ships,  per  displacement  ton, 
50  cents. 


ITEM 

Fiscal  year 
1915 

Fiscal  year 
1916 

Per  cent  1916 
of  1915 

No  of  vessels 

1,088 

787 

72.3 

Net  tonnage  
Tons  of  cargo  
Tolls  

3,843,035 
4,969,792 
$4,343,383.69 

2,479,761 
3,140,046 
$2,399,830.42 

64.5 
63.4 
55.3 

On  June  30,  1916,  the  total  re- 
ceipts of  tolls  from  vessels  passing 
through  the  canal  were  $2,399,830.42. 
The  total  amount  expended  on  ac- 
count of  the  operation  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  canal  was  $6,999,750.15, 
leaving  a  deficit  to  the  amount  of 
$4,599,919.73. 

For  every  dollar  the  Government 
spent  for  operation  and  maintenance 
it  received  back  in  tolls  34.28  cents. 
It  spent  practically  three  times  as 
much  to  maintain  and  operate  the 
canal  as  it  received  in  tolls. 

During  the  preceding  fiscal  year 
the  tolls  had  exceeded  the  expenses 
by  $276,656.38,  which  represented  a 
profit  of  0.67  per  cent  on  the  ex- 
penditure for  operation  and  main- 
tenance alone,  not  counting  anything 
for  interest  on  the  money  invested 
or  for  depreciation  of  plant. 

COASTWISE    TRADE 

Tolls  on  vessels  in  the  United 
States  coastwise  trade  amounted  to 
18.36  per  cent  of  all  tolls  collected 
in  1916.  During  the  preceding  fis- 
cal year,  coastwise  traffic  yielded 
over  36  per  cent  of  the  total,  or 
practically  double  the  proportion 
which  existed  during  the  fiscal  year 
1916. 


Army  and  Navy  transports,  col- 
liers, hospital  ships,  and  supply 
ships,  measured  as  merchant  vessels, 
per  net  ton,  $1.20. 

To  the  uninitiated,  to  whom  these 
charges  may  seem  heavy,  the  follow- 
ing example  is  given  to  show  their 
justice  and  the  saving  effected  by 
the  canal. 

The  American  Hawaiian  Company 


A   CANAL  LOCK  AT  NIGHT 

has  a  liner  called  the  "Arizonan." 
On  a  basis  of  a  speed  of  12  knots, 
the  canal  saves  the  "Arizonan" 
about  26.8  days  at  sea  on  each  voy- 
age from  coast  to  coast.  The  "Ari- 
zonan" is  a  relatively  large  vessel, 
470  feet  long  by  57.2  feet  in  the 


OPEBATXO*  or 


LOCKS  IN  DISTANCE,    AUGUST  28. 


114 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 
COLLECTION  BY  MONTHS  AND  DIRECTIONS 


MONTH 

Vessels  entering 
from  Pacific 

Vessels  entering 
from  Atlantic 

Total 

1915 
July  
August  
September  

$308,264.32 
268,397.23 
168,450.30 

$265,101.35 
228,394  .  80 
181,048.00 

$573,365  .  67 
496,792.03 
349,498  .  30 

October              

November 

December  
1916 
January  

93.60 
18.00 

10,732.40 
636  .  39 

10,826.00 
654  .  39 

February  
March 

832  .  80 
268  80 

1.20 
150  00 

834.00 
418  80 

April... 
May 

97,779.29 
197,000.83 

137,839.15 
171,022.96 

235,618.44 
368  023  79 

June  

213,103.11 

150,695.89 

363,799.00 

Total 

$1  254,208  28 

$1  145,622   14 

$2  399,830  42 

beam,  and  has  carried  as  much  as 
11,780  tons  of  cargo  through  the 
canal  on  one  of  her  voyages.  The 
canal  tolls  levied  on  each  passage 
are  $7,891.20.  The  cost  of  operating 
the  "Arizonan"  at  sea  may  be  taken 
at  $450  a  day.  For  26  days  this 
means  $11,700,  from  which  the  sub- 
traction of  the  tolls  leaves  a  net 


saving  of  approximately  $3,808  per 
voyage. 

Partly  because  of  the  many  slides 
and  the  cost  of  their  removal,  part- 
ly because  of  the  fact  that  they 
closed  the  canal  for  six  months  in 
a  year  and  partly  because  of  the 
war,  the  tolls  do  not  by  any  means 
pay  expenses. 


*  IOO.OGO                     meoo.ooo                    »  300.000                    &4OO 

300                            »  500.000                          »€OO.O 

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PANAMA  CANAL  TRAFFIC 


S,S.    "CRISTOBAL"    IN    CULEBRA    CUT    AT    PARAISO    ON    RETURN    TRIP    THROUGH 

CANAL— LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  TOP  OF  CERRO  LUISA,   AUGUST  4,    1914 
U.S.S.  "OHIO"  PASSING  CUCARACHA  SLIDE-LOOKING  NORTH,  JULY  16,  1915 


116 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


CHANGE    IN     TOLLS     CHARGES 

During  the  first  months  tolls  were 
levied  on  the  basis  of  the  net  ton- 
nage of  ships  determined  by  special- 
ly formulated  rules  for  measurement 
for  the  Panama  Canal,  in  which  the 
net  tonnage  was  the  space  available 
for  carrying  cargo,  reckoned  in  tons 
of  100  cubic  feet.  Following  an  in- 
terpretation of  the  Panama  Canal 
Act  by  the  Attorney  General,  the 
amount  of  tolls  collectable  has  been 
governed  also  by  the  net  tonnage  as 
determined  by. the  rules  for  registry 
in  the  United  States,  it  having  been 
decided  that  the  tolls  should  not  ex- 
ceed $1.25  per  net  ton  on  this  basis. 

The  result  of  this  system  has  been 
a  loss  in  revenue.  During  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1916,  the  tolls 
collected  amounted  to  $2,395,928.77. 
If  the  original  Panama  Canal  rules 
had  been  adhered  to,  collections 
would  have  amounted  to  $2,786,- 
642.82,  a  difference  of  $390,714.05, 
14.05  per  cent  of  the  hypothetical 


earnings  under  the  original  system, 
and  16.3  per  cent  of  the  amount  act- 
ually collected. 

CHARACTER  OF  FREIGHT. 

Twenty  principal  commodities  to- 
gether made  up  67  per  cent  of  all 
cargo  carried  through  the  canal,  be- 
ing 2,009,897  tons  out  of  a  grand 
total  of  3,140,046  tons.  The  miscel- 
laneous articles  other  than  the 
twelve  principal  commodities  aggre- 
gated 1,130,149  tons. 

Nitrates  amounted  to  894,139  tons ; 
refined  petroleum  to  271,041;  coal, 
243,216;  sugar,  128,544;  lumber, 
96,685;  manufactured  goods  of  iron 
and  steel,  87,375;  crude  oil,  69,812; 
railroad  material,  57,829;  iron  ore, 
52,250 ;  canned  goods,  41,300 ;  barley, 
38,006;  and  copper,  36,700  tons. 

CANAL    FORCE 

Many  people  have  an  idea  that  be- 
cause the  canal  is  finished  and  open 
for  business  therefore  the  Isthmus 
is  depopulated.  How  far  wrong  this 


300 


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Auq    Sejot     Oct      Nov.     Dec     Jon.     Feb.     Mar    Apr    May    June  Julu      Aug    Sept. 
1914  ,9,5 

CROSS   TRAFFIC   IN  THE   CANAL 


THE  PANAMA  CANAL 


117 


is  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
statement  of  the  working  force  actu- 
ally engaged  during  the  last  week  of 
July,  1916: 

The     occupants     of     Government 
quarters  numbered  6,772  Americans, 


DEPARTMENT  OR  DIVISION 

Operation  and  Maintenance: 

Locks  and  office 

Terminal  construction 

Building 

Electrical 

Municipal  Engineering 

Dredging 

Mechanical 

Marine 

Fortification 

General  Construction 


Total.  . 


Supply: 

Commissary 

Subsistence 

Quartermaster 

Accounting 

Health 

Executive 

Panama  Railroad 

Contractors 


713 

752 

2,243 

572 

2,826 

2,692 

2,550 

277 

388 

59 

13,072 


1,976 

381 
2,103 

213 
1,019 

466 
4,690 

198 


Grand  Total 24,121 


of  whom  3,747  were  men,  1,454  wo- 
men, and  1,571  children;  and  10,925 
West  Indians,  of  whom  5,880  were 
men,  2,188  women,  and  2,857  chil- 
dren. 

RECENT  IMPROVEMENTS 

The  new  1,000-foot  dry  dock  at 
Balboa  was  put  in  active  commercial 
service  the  last  of  August,  1916. 
The  first  use  of  the  dock  was  on 
June  27,  with  the  docking  of  the 
dredge  "Corozal,"  and  since  that 
time  other  canal  vessels  have  been 
docked.  The  first  privately  owned 
vessel  to  make  use  of  it  was  the 
81-ton  auxiliary  schooner  "Chiriqui," 
registered  in  Panama,  which  en- 
tered the  dock  on  Tuesday,  August 
22. 

The  first  commercial  use  of  the 
new  coaling  plant  at  the  Atlantic 
terminus  of  the  canal  was  made  in 
the  morning  of  Wednesday,  August 
30,  when  the  steamship  "Otaki"  was 
taken  alongside  the  reloader  wharf 
to  receive  550  tons  of  coal. 


GAILLARD  CUT  CITLEBRA— LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  CONTRACTOR'S  HILL,   SHOWING 

BARRIER    ACROSS    CANAL    FORMED    BY    SLIDES    FROM    EAST    AND    WEST 

BANKS,    NOVEMBER    18,    1915 


118 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


SLIDES 

So  much  has  been  said  of  the 
closing  of,  or  interference  of  the 
operation  of,  the  canal  by  slides, 
that  most  people  have  a  confused 
idea  that  the  mountains  on  each 
side  of  the  canal  are  gradually  slid- 
ing into  it,  and  some  have  even  come 
to  believe  that  the  canal  will  one 
day  be  known  as  a  gigantic  en- 
gineering failure. 

Space  forbids  going  into  the  sub- 
ject. But  for  the  comfort  of  those 
who  are  anxious  lest  we  have  spent 
our  money  and  time  for  nothing, 
the  following  quotation  from  Major 
General  George  W.  Goethals'  paper 
on  "Slides  at  Panama, "published  Jan. 
5.  1916,  may  well  be  printed  here: 

"It  is  certain  the  slides  are  due 
to  the  failure  of  underlying  strata, 
because  these  were  unable  to  bear 
the  weight  that  the  banks  brought 
upon  them.  Under  the  circumstances 


it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  im- 
pression that  has  gained  credence 
in  some  quarters  that  a  sea-level 
canal  would  have  avoided  the  dif- 
ficulties encountered,  since  the  cut- 
ting would  have  been  through  the 
same  material,  but  at  least  80  feet 
deeper. 

"It  is  also  certain  that  nothing 
can  stop  the  movements  until  the 
angle  of  repose  is  reached  for  the 
materials  under  the  conditions  that 
exist,  and  that  this  can  be  reached 
only  by  removing  the  excess  amount 
of  material.  If  experience  counts 
for  aught,  then  that  gained  in  the 
handling  of  the  slides  and  the  breaks 
that  have  occurred  along  the  line  of 
the  canal  leaves  no  doubt  that  the 
means  adopted  and  now  in  use  will 
effect  a  cure ;  furthermore,  that 
when  cured  no  further  troubles  need 
be  anticipated  from  slides  in  this 
locality." 


Copyright   Harris   &    Ewing 

OOL,    GOETHALS,    U.S.A.,    THE    PANAMA 
CANAL  BUILDER 


CHAPTEK    X. 


THE  THREE   GREAT   GOVERNMENT  SURVEYS 

GEOLOGICAL,    COAST   AND    GEODETIC 
AND  HYDROGRAPHIC 


THE    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY 


VITAL    to    the    proper    develop- 
ment of  our  great  natural  re- 
sources is  an  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  those  resources.     It  is  with 
these  that  the  Geological  Survey  is 
concerned,  with  their  investigation, 
their  development  and  their  proper 
exploitation. 


and  the  area  topographically  mapped 
by  the  topographers  was  more  than 
35,000  square  miles.  The  land 
classification  work  of  the  Geological 
Survey  last  year  resulted  in  the 
classification  of  about  36,000  square 
miles  in  the  public  land  States.  In 
the  collection  of  statistics  of  mineral 


ACCURATE   MEASUREMENT   WORK   IN    THE    FIELD.— GEODETIC    SURVEY 


Spending  $1,620,520  in  the  last 
fiscal  year  for  which  a  report  is 
available  (to  June  30,  1915)  the 
Geological  Survey's  work  can  hardly 
be  summed  up  in  a  sentence.  Dur- 
ing the  year  geological  investiga- 
tions were  made  in  47  States  and 
Alaska ;  topographic  surveys  were 
made  in  30  States,  Alaska  and  Ha- 
waii, and  stream  measurements  were 
made  in  41  States  and  Hawaii.  The 
total  area  covered  by  geologists  in 
reconnaissance  and  detailed  surveys 
was  more  than  76,000  square  miles 


production  the  Geological  Survey  co- 
operated with  the  State  geologists  of 
16  States  and  carried  on  correspond- 
ence with  90,000  producers,  as  well 
as  answering  over  50,000  letters  of 
inquiry. 

The  bureau  divides  its  activities 
into  the  Geologic,  Topographic, 
Water  Resources,  Land  Classifica- 
tion, Publication  and  Administrative 
branches. 

Geological  Branch 
The  original  duties  of  the  geologic 


Copyright   by   Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


THE    THREE    GREAT    GOVERNMENT    SURVEYS 


121 


branch  were  the  classification  of  the 
public  lands  and  the  examination  of 
the  geological  structure,  mineral  re- 
sources and  products  of  the  national 
domain.  These  duties  were  at  first 
construed  to  apply  only  to  the  public 
land  States.  Later,  however,  in 
order  that  all  parts  of  the  country 
might  share  alike  in  the  benefits  of 
its  work,  the  survey  was  specifically 
authorized  "to  continue  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  geological  map  of  the 
United  States,"  the  scope  of  its 


the  earth's  crust  and  its  mineral 
constituents.  The  survey  is  a  source 
of  geologic  information  regarding 
not  only  the  geology  of  the  United 
States  and  its  possessions,  but  also 
that  of  Mexico,  Central  America  and 
even  South  America.  By  corre- 
spondence it  is  asked  for  data  re- 
garding the  geology  and  mineral  de- 
posits of  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  geologic  branch  has  the  double 
task  of  geologic  surveying,  includ- 
ing the  investigation,  description 


MAP    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES    SHOWING    AREAS    COVERED    BY    TOPOGRAPHIC 
SURVEYS  PRIOR  TO  JULY  1,    1915 


operations  being  thus  made  nation- 
wide. Since  that  time  (1882)  the 
investigations  necessary  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  survey's  obligations 
to  the  public  have  become  as  varied 
as  the  aspects  of  geology  itself. 

The  geologic  branch  is  the  effective 
agency  of  the  survey  in  investiga- 
tions in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Alaska  and  also  the  great 
geologic  information  bureau  to 
which  the  American  public,  from 
Key  West  to  Point  Barrow  and  from 
San  Diego  to  Eastport,  applies  for 
knowledge  of  every  sort  concerning 


and  mapping  of  the  geology  and 
mineral  deposits  of  all  parts  of  the 
country;  the  classification  of  the 
public  lands  and  the  publication  of 
the  results  of  its  work,  and  furnish- 
ing to  the  public  miscellaneous  geo- 
logic information  derived  from  all 
sources. 

But  it  is  not  to  the  general  public 
only  that  its  services  are  rendered 
direct.  Probably  no  one  bureau  of 
the  Government  co-operates  with  so 
many  others  in  their  work  as  does 
this  survey. 

The  survey  co-operates  with  the 


122 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Bureau  of  Mines  in  the  metallo- 
graphic  study  of  ores,  in  the  investi- 
gation of  the  invasion  of  California 
oil  wells  by  salt  water,  in  studies 
of  the  application  of  geology  to  en- 
gineering problems  of  mining  and 
construction  and  in  the  examination 
of  placers  and  placer  mining  in  the 
United  States.  The  survey  is  en- 
gaged with  the  Bureau  of  Standards, 
the  Bureau  of  Mines  and  the  Office 


Justice  in  connection  with  suits  re- 
garding public  lands ;  to  the  Navy 
Department  in  regard  to  oil  and 
water  supplies;  to  the  Office  of  In- 
dian Affairs  in  the  classification  of 
Indian  lands ;  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment with  reference  to  water  sup- 
plies in  its  reservations,  and  to  the 
General  Land  Office  in  the  classifica- 
tion of  withdrawn  coal,  oil  and 
phosphate  lands. 


COAST  AND  GEODETIC  SURVEYS 


of  Public  Roads  in  a  systematic 
study  of  building  stones.  It  co- 
operated informally  with  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  Bureau  of  Fish- 
eries, Forest  Service,  Navy  Depart- 
ment, War  Department  and  Light- 
house Service,  as  well  as  with  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  including  the 
Geophysical  Laboratory  and  Marine 
Biological  Station  of  the  Carnegie 
Institution.  Services  are  rendered 
to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in 
the  examination  of  lands  in  the  na- 
tional forests ;  to  the  Department  of 


Topographic  Work 
The  general  public  is  perhaps  more 
familiar  with  the  work  of  the  topo- 
graphic branch  of  the  survey  than 
with  any  other,  since  most  people 
at  one  time  or  another  have  use  for 
accurate  maps  of  the  country  in 
which  they  live  or  intend  to  visit. 
Carried  on  in  co-operation  with  the 
States,  the  work  of  mapping  the 
whole  country  has  made  great  prog- 
ress, 40.2  per  cent  of  the  entire 
area — and  that  the  most  important, 
economically  considered — h  a  v  i  n  g 


THE    THREE    GREAT    GOVERNMENT    SURVEYS  123 


I.  Plane  Table  Work.     2.  Lad  Signaling  Roadman  to  Move.     3.  Reading   Microscopically  in 

Precise  Measurement  Work  in  the  Field.     4.   Erecting  a  Signal  Over  a  Recovered 

Triangulation   Point 

THE    GEODETIC    SURVEYORS    AT    WORK 


124 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  TOPOGRAPHIC  SURVEYS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AND  NEW  AREAS  SURVEYED  JULY  1,  1914  TO  JUNE  30,  1915 


Area  mapped  to 
June  30,   1915 

Percentage  of 
total  area  of 
State  mapped  to 
June  30,  1915 

Alabama 

Sq.  Miles 
19  192 

37 

Arizona  
Arkansas 

68,996 
21  380 

61 
40 

California  
Colorado 

114,708 
48  783 

72 
47 

Connecticut  
Delaware 

4,965 
1  202 

100 
51 

District  of  Columbia  
Florida 

70 
2  339 

100 

4 

Georgia  
Idaho 

17,337 
26  185 

29 
31 

Illinois  

14,551 

26 

Indiana 

3  441 

9 

Iowa  

11,652 

21 

Kansas 

64  159 

78  - 

Kentucky  
Louisiana 

17,973 
8  319 

44 
17 

Maine  
Maryland 

9,361 
12  327 

28 
100 

Massachusetts  
Michigan 

8,266 
6  018 

100 
10 

Minnesota  
Mississippi 

6,541 
2  126 

8 
4 

Missouri  
Montana    .  .  . 

36,710 
57,163 

53 
39 

Nebraska  

26,524 

34 

Nevada 

51,115 

46 

New  Hampshire  
New  Jersey  
New  Mexico  .... 

3,380 
8,224 
37,247 

36 
100 
30 

New  York  
North.  Carolina  

43,553 
18,390 

89 
35 

North  Dakota  
Ohio 

9,716 
40  018 

14 
97 

Oklahoma  

39,851 

57 

Oregon 

23,406 

24 

Pennsylvania  
Rhode  Island 

24,908 
1,248 

55 
100 

South  Carolina  
South  Dakota 

5,640 
18,594 

18 
24 

Tennessee  

21,153 

50 

Texas.  . 

67,782 

25 

Utah 

68,797 

81 

Vermont  
Virginia 

4,190 
29,980 

44 
70 

Washington  
West  Virginia 

26,033 
24,170 

33 
100 

Wisconsin 

12  203 

21 

Wyoming  

28,404 

29 

Total  

1,218,290 

40.2 

Hawaii  

1,393 

22 

f  r 


126 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


fccJMPLETtb   SHpWN   THUS  . 

,'ThiANbuilAfion  BEJGUN  SHOWN  'THUS  '.  '-.. 


DNITKI)  STATKS 


TRIANGULATION  SURVEY 


been  surveyed  and  published.  The 
table  on  page  124  gives  the  data  for 
each  State. 

These  maps,  most  beautifully  en- 
graved and  printed,  can  be  obtained 
at  a  nominal  price.  A  key  map, 
showing"  just  what  portions  of  each 
State  are  available,  should  be  se- 
cured first  by  application  to  the  sur- 
vey, from  which  selections  can  be 
made  as  desired.  The  maps  are  in 
color  and  accurate  with  the  accu- 
racy of  the  highest  degree  of  engi- 
neering skill. 

Water  Resources — Land 
Classification 

Immensely  important  though  they 
are,  space  forbids  any  extensive  re- 
port of  the  work  of  the  water  re- 
sources branch.  Full  information  in 
regard  to  the  water  work  in  forty- 
one  States  and  Hawaii,  of  which 
twenty-six  have  co-operated,  as  have 
the  Reclamation,  Indian  and  Public 


Health  Service  and  many  army  en- 
gineers, can  be  had  on  application 
to  the  survey. 

Similarly  the  land  classification, 
and  the  withdrawal  and  restoration 
of  public  lands  with  relation  to  their 
oil,  coal  and  mineral  deposits,  is 
a  subject  too  big  for  extended  notice 
here  and  too  special  for  a  popular 
report.  More  than  36,000  square 
miles  of  land  were  classified  in  the 
year  just  passed. 

Publications 

The  work  of  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey is  largely  made  available  to  the 
public  by  distribution  of  printed  re- 
ports and  maps.  The  publications 
of  a  year  consisted  of  1  annual 
report,  1  monograph,  5  professional 
papers,  10  separate  chapters  from  2 
professional  papers,  35  bulletins,  30 
separate  chapters  from  5  bulletins, 
33  water  supply  papers,  18  separate 
chapters  from  4  water  supply  papers, 


THE    THREE    GREAT    GOVERNMENT    SURVEYS 


12? 


1  annual  report  on  mineral  resources 
for  1913  (published  also  in  62  ad- 
vance chapters,  15  delivered  in  1913- 
14  and  47  in  1914-15),  5  advance 
chapters  from  the  annual  report  on 
mineral  resources  for  1914,  3  geo- 
logic folios,  2  lists  of  publications, 
1  list  of  topographic  maps  and  folios, 
pamphlets  entitled  "Topographic  In- 
structions of  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey,  1915,"  and  "Service 
Bulletin,  1914,"  leaflets  entitled  "Na- 
ture and  Uses  of  Topographic  Maps," 


PRECISE    LEVELING 

"The  Production  of  Copper  in  1914" 
and  "The  Production  of  Spelter  in 
1914,"  3  circulars  concerning  geo- 
logic folios,  22  index  map  circulars, 
55  press  bulletins  and  10  monthly 
lists  of  new  publications. 

A  complete  list  of  all  Geological 
Survey  publications,  with  their  cost 
price,  can  be  obtained  from  the  Su- 
perintendent of  Public  Documents. 
Government  Printing  Office,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  to  whom  application 
should  be  made  by  those  desiring  to 
obtain  such  publications.  Maps, 
however,  are  obtainable  from  the 
survey  direct,  as  stated  above. 

COAST   AND    GEODETIC    SURVEY 

A  bureau  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce,  the  Coast  Survey  per- 
forms work  seldom  heard  of  by  the 
general  public,  of  the  most  vital 
importance  not  only  to  the  scientific 
world  but  the  public  itself. 

Every  coast  chart,  on  which  the 
vessels  of  the  navy  and  the  mari- 
time world  in  general  depend  for 
safety  of  both  life  and  property,  is 
made  by  the  Coast  Survey.  Its 


charts  are  models  for  all  the  world 
for  both  accuracy  and  beauty. 

The  books  of  tide  tables,  on  which 
all  mariners  depend  for  tide  condi- 
tions in  harbors  and  along  the 
coasts,  are  published  by  the  Coast 
Survey.  Most  remarkable  of  books, 
these  enormous  summaries  of  calcu- 
lations are  not  the  work  of  human 
hands  and  brains  but  the  result  of 
the  labor  of  the  most  wonderful  cal- 
culating machine  in  the  world — the 
tide  predicting  engine.  A  huge  af- 
fair of  wheels  and  shafts,  occupying 
a  mahogany  and  glass  case  which 
fills  a  room  of  the  bureau,  this  most 
accurate  and  intricate  of  machines 
does  the  work  of  a  hundred  com- 
puters and  more  accurately  than  any 
human  being  could  do  it. 

In  addition  to  the  preparation  and 
printing  and  issuing  of  coast  charts, 
the  survey  conducts  triangulation 
work  which  will  in  time  gridiron 
the  whole  United  States,  determines 
latitudes,  investigates  magnetic  phe- 
nomena, conducts  precise  leveling, 
makes  special  surveys  and  performs 
a  host  of  special  duties,  such  as  sup- 
plying experts  for  duty  on  Interna- 
tional Boundary  Commissions,  In- 
ternational Geodetic  Association, 
Board  of  Life  Saving  Appliances, 
Mississippi  River  Commission,  co- 
operation with  Alaskan  Engineering 
Commission,  etc. 

Its  hydrographic  work  for  coast 
charts  is  of  the  highest  importance 
and  its  development  of,  what  is 
known  as  the  "wire  drag"  has  revo- 
lutionized all  such  work.  No  mat- 
ter how  closely  soundings  may  be 
made  of  a  harbor,  for  instance,  it  is 
impossible  to  be  certain  that  all 
sunken  rocks,  wrecks,  shoals  or  other 
obstructions  to  navigation  have  been 
discovered.  But  with  a  submerged 
wire  drag  of  a  known  depth,  dragged 
through  the  water  between  two 
widely  separate  vessels,  a  positive 
result  is  obtained  resulting  in  a 
security  beyond  price  to  the  mariner. 
In  its  work  the  Coast  Survey 
sends  out  numerous  parties  which 
work  along  the  coasts,  or,  if  trian- 
gulatioH  or  leveling  is  being  done, 


128 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


in  the  interior.  Many  vessels  are 
used  for  coast  work,  including  the 
steamers  "Bache,"  "Endeavor"  (now 
sold),  "Hydrographer,"  "Isis,"  "Ex- 
plorer," "G  e  d  n  e  y,"  "McArthur," 
"Patterson,"  "Taku"  and  "Yukon" 
and  the  schooner  "Matchless." 

In  the  Philippine  Islands  five  ves- 
sels aid  the  work  of  the  survey,  re- 
porting to  the  suboffice  at  Manila. 
This  work  is  prosecuted  partly  with 
funds  of  the  survey  and  partly  with 
funds  from  the  Philippine  Govern- 


PLANE    TABLE    WORK    IN    THE    WATER 
IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 

ment,  which  also  furnishes  four  of 
the  five  vessels  engaged.  The  ships 
are  the  "Pathfinder,"  "Marinduque," 
"Romblon,"  "Fathomer"  and  "Re- 
search." 

It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
cover  in  a  few  words  the  extensive 
and  varied  work  of  a  bureau  which 
requires  a  closely  printed  report  of 
156  pages  to  show  a  year's  activi- 
ties. But  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  determination  of  astronomic 


latitudes,  the  determination  of 
gravity  intensity,  the  prosecution  of 
triangulation,  the  wire-drag  hydro- 
graphic  work  which  last  year  dis- 
covered and  charted  "hundreds  of 
shoals  and  obstructions  to  naviga- 
tion, the  coast  pilot  work,  the  tidal 
determination  and  publications,  the 
assistance  rendered  vessels  and  mar- 
iners in  distress,  the  precise  level- 
ing, the  special  surveys  and  special 
services  rendered  by  the  bureau,  the 
determination  of  magnetic  elements, 
dip,  declination  and  horizontal  in- 
tensity made  in  31  States,  are  all 
highly  important,  it  is  after  all 
the  coast  charting  and  the  printing 
and  distribution  of  these  charts 
which  are  the  most  indispensable 
features  of  this  highly  important 
scientific  bureau. 

During     the     year     there     were 
printed : 

Lithographic  charts '.  .  .  62,036 

Engraved  cttarts 53,611 

Miscellaneous  lithographic  prints  22,417 

Miscellaneous   engraved   prints. .  .  25 


Total  138,039 

a  total  of  304,799  impressions  from 
the  press. 

The  charts  issued  during  the  year 
were  119,387,  an  increase  of  1,895 
over  the  previous  year.  Thirty-nine 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  of  these  charts  were  issued  to 
the  Hydrographic  Office  for  navy 
use  and  52,855  supplied  the  mer- 
chant marine  through  sales  agents. 
Coast  pilots  were  issued  to  the  num- 
ber of  6,291,  and  tide  tables  for  the 
Atlantic  Coast  2,050,  Pacific  Coast 
10,775,  General  2,206. 

The  appropriation  for  1915  was 
$1,039,730.  For  1916  it  was.  $1,365,- 
620,  most  of  the  increase  being  for 
two  new  and  badly  needed  vessels. 
The  money  is  expended  as  follows: 

For  field  expenses $355,400 

Repairs  and  maintenance  of 

vessels  40,000 

Officers  and  men,  vessels 252,200 

Pay  of  field  officers 174,600 

Pay  of  office  force 204,420 

Office  expenses 500,000 

Two  new  vessels 289,000 

The  urgent  need  of  the  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey  is  for  new  quar- 
ters. Occupying  several  old  build- 


THE    THREE    GREAT    GOVERNMENT    SURVEYS 


129 


Ings,  none  of  them  built  for  the  pur- 
pose (one  was  once  a  hotel,  another 
a  private  house ! )  much  time,  money 
and  efficiency  is  wasted  from  lack  of 
proper  facilities.  Already  in  the 
first  rank  in  naval  and  maritime  im- 
portance, this  Government  bureau 
will,  when  allowed  to  expand  and 
work  under  proper  conditions,  take 
its  place  in  popular  estimation  with 
other  better  known  but  no  more  im- 
portant bureaus  of  the  Government 
which,  because  of  their  popular  ap- 
peal, fare  so  much  better  at  the 
hands  of  Congress. 


The  Hydrographic  Office  also  pub- 
lishes sailing  directions  and  manuals 
for  .the  safe  navigation  of  vessels 
based  on  the  original  surveys  and 
reports,  or  upon  similar  publications 
or  information  received  from  for- 
eign hydrographic  offices. 

The  Hydrographic  Office  also  is- 
sues a  number  of  publications.  The 
Weekly  Notice  for  Mariners  is  a 
publication  for  which  the  demand 
increases  greatly  from  year  to  year. 
During  the  fiscal  year  ending  1915, 
277,420  whole  weekly  notices  and 
241,748  extracts  therefrom  were  pub- 


HYDROGRAPHIC  SURVEYS 


HYDBOGBAPHIC   OFFICE 

The  Hydrographic  Office  of  the 
United  States  Navy  supplements  the 
work  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Sur- 
vey in  chartmaking  by  providing 
both  for  the  United  States  naval 
vessels,  and  for  all  mariners  who 
have  use  for  them,  charts  of  the 
coasts  of  all  the  world. 


lished.  The  information  given  in 
this  journal  is  in  regard  to  the  cor- 
rection of  existing  charts,  sailing 
directions  necessary  and  essential  to 
safe  navigation,  such  as  changes  in 
lights,  buoys,  beacons,  wrecks  and 
shoals. 

The  Daily  Memorandum  comprises 
publication  of  information  affecting 


130 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


the  immediate  safe  navigation  of 
vessels,  which  include  the  presence 
of  icebergs,  field  ice,  derelicts, 
wrecks,  missing  buoys,  etc.  This  in- 
formation, in  addition  to  being  pub- 
lished in  the  Daily  Memorandum,  is 
telephoned  or  telegraphed  to  the 
various  radio  stations  and  sent 
broadcast  to  all  shipping  four  times 
a  day. 

The  Hydrographic  Bulletin,  which 
is  issued  weekly,  totaled  for  the  past 
year  247,468  copies.  It  contains 


the  vessels  of  the  navy.  It  furnishes 
free  of  cost  to  all  other  Government 
vessels  such  charts  and  publications 
as  are  requested,  and  the  same  ma- 
terial is  sold  at  the  cost  of  printing 
and  paper  to  the  merchant  marine 
or  the  public  in  general. 

By  international  agreement  the 
United  States  receives  from  all  for- 
eign hydrographic  offices  two  copies 
of  all  charts  issued  by  them,  and 
supplies  to  them  two  copies  of  all 
charts  issued  by  it.  Of  all  foreign 


WIRE  DRAG  FOE  SURVEYING  THE  SURFACE  OF  THE  BOTTOM 


many  items  of  interest  to  seafaring 
people  and  is  an  important  member 
of  the  publication  family  of  this 
office. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-four 
book  publications  are  issued  by  the 
Hydrographic  Office,  which  are  ne- 
cessary to  the  maritime  public. 
They  include  such  volumes  as  Amer- 
ican Practical  Navigator,  List  of 
Lights,  International  Code  of  Sig- 
nals, Line  of  Position  Tables,  Africa 
Pilot,  British  Island  Pilot,  Mediter- 
ranean Pilot,  etc. 

The  Hydrographic  Office  supplies 
all  charts  and  navigational  publica- 
tions, whatever  their  character,  to 


hydrographic  offices  the  British  Ad- 
miralty is,  of  course,  the  largest  and 
most  efficient.  The  United  States 
has  had  to  depend  very  largely  upon 
charts  issued  by  the  British  Admi- 
ralty, not  only  for  information  but 
for  the  actual  charts  themselves,  so 
that  the  number  purchased  in  the 
past  year  was  19,222.  Altogether 
at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  the 
United  States  depended  upon  the 
British  Admiralty  for  1,494  indi- 
vidual charts  of  various  parts  of  the 
world.  These,  however,  are  rapidly 
being  reproduced  by  the  Hydro- 
graphic  Office  by  a  photolithographic 
process  on  zinc  plates.  The  result 


THE    THREE    GREAT    GOVERNMENT    SURVEYS  131 


A   GEEAT    BRASS    BRAIN-THE    WONDERFUL    TIDE    PREDICTOR 


132 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


of  this  reproduction  will  be  both  to 
save  the  purchase  price  of  such 
charts  from  a  foreign  government 
and  to  make  the  United  States  inde- 
pendent of  any  foreign  government 
for  the  supplying  of  world  charts 
to  its  own  navy. 

Navigational  charts  to  the  number 
of  123,158  and  pilot  charts  to  the 
number  of  205,226  were  published 


on  a  large  scale  and  covering  the 
approaches  to  the  Panama  Canal, 
has  been  issued.  Pilot  charts  are  in 
great  demand,  showing,  as  they  do, 
tracks  of  just  past  storms,  prevail- 
ing wind  directions,  compass  varia- 
tion and  other  maritime  information, 
making  them  extremely  valuable 
even  to  a  vessel  well  supplied  with 
regulation  charts. 


CHART    OF    THE    NORTH    ATLANTIC    OCEAN 


by  the  Hydrographic  Office  during 
the  past  year.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  the  Hydrographic  Office  had  on 
issue  the  following  charts: 

Hydrographic  Office   charts 2,281 

Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  charts       664 

British  Admiralty   charts 1,494 

Total 4,439 

The  pilot  charts  are  published 
monthly  for  the  North  Atlantic, 
North  Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans 
and  quarterly  for  the  South  Atlan- 
tic and  South  Pacific  Oceans.  In 
addition  to  these  a  new  pilot  chart 
of  Central  American  waters,  printed 


Sixteen  branch  Hydrographic  Of- 
fices are  maintained,  located,  as  fol- 
lows: Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  Norfolk,  Savannah, 
New  Orleans,  Galveston,  San  Fran- 
cisco, Portland,  Ore.,  Seattle,  Du- 
luth,  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  Chicago, 
Cleveland  and  Buffalo. 

In  addition  to  these  there  are  52 
agents  in  the  United  States,  located 
in  37  cities  and  towns,  and  12  agents 
in  foreign  countries  for  the  sale  of 
Hydrographic  Office  publications. 

The  branch  Hydrographic  Offices 
are  engaged  in  collecting  and  dis- 


THE  THREE  GREAT  GOVERNMENT  SURVEYS      133 


TAKING  TIP   SAMPLES   OF  BOTTOM  WITH  HAND  REEL 


tributing  hydrographic  information. 
They  endeavor  to  give  assistance  to 
officers  and  men  of  merchant  vessels 
both  as  to  data  pertaining  to  the 
seas  traveled  and  personal  instruc- 
tions in  navigation.  The  popularity 
of  the  work  of  assistance  rendered 
by  these  branch  offices  is  shown  by 
the  large  number  of  ship  captains, 
agents,  pilots  and  other  seafaring 
men  who  visited  the  several  branch 
offices  during  the  year.  In  1915 
there  was  a  total  of  40,646  visitors 
and  over  26,000  telephone  calls, 
relative  to  correct  chronometer  time 
and  other  items  of  nautical  informa- 
tion were  answered. 

A  large  supply  of  all  charts  issued 
by  the  office  is  kept  on  file  in  the 
main  office  in  Washington.  Sending 
these  out  on  demand  is  a  very  im- 
portant work  of  the  Hydrographic 


Office,  since  to  issue  a  chart  not  up 
to  date  in  any  and  every  particular 
might  cost  many  lives  and  the  loss 
of  much  property. 

Thus  no  chart  is  sent  out  until  it 
has  been  corrected  to  date  and  by 
hand  with  all  alterations  made 
necessary  by  changes  in  lights,  new 
information  in  regard  to  depth,  the 
presence  of  wrecks  or  other  obstruc- 
tions to  navigation,  etc.  As  an  in- 
dication of  the  size  of  this  work  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  during  the 
fiscal  year  there  were  transferred 
from  old  to  new  copies  of  charts 
some  18,000  corrections,  and  handled 
by  requisition  or  for  plotting  and 
reference  about  9,000  charts.  In- 
cluding new  issues  the  total  number 
of  copies  of  charts  printed  during 
the  year  was  328,484. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GOVERNMENT  PROTECTION  OF  LIFE  AND 
PROPERTY  AT  SEA 


BUREAU    OF    LIGHTHOUSES. 


HAVING  the  greatest  coast- 
line in  the  world,  the  United 
States  also  occupies  the  proud 
position  of  having  the  largest,  finest 
and  most  competent  lighthouse  es- 
tablishment in  the  world.  Not  yet 
has  it  reached  the  full  flower  of 
perfection  which  will  obtain  when 
the  ideal  of  the  service  is  realized— 
lighthouses  so  numerous  and  so  well 
placed  that  it  will  be  impossible  for 
a  coastwise  vessel  to  sail  out  of  the 
radiance  of  one  without  coming  into 
view  of  the  next.  But  great  prog- 
ress has  been  made  toward  this  end, 
and  the  building,  both  of  structures 
and  of  traditions,  of  apparatus  and 
of  the  service  itself,  has  been  so  well 
and  carefully  done  that  the  service 
is  a  permanent  asset  not  only  to  all 
our  own  shipping,  but  to  the  ship- 
ping of  the  world. 

Moreover,  to  the  credit  of  the 
country  be  it  said,  there  are  no 
"light  dues"  which  any  foreign  or 
domestic  vessel  must  pay.  Uncle 
Sam  lights  his  coasts  and  says  in  ef- 
fect to  all  who  go  down  to  the  sea 
in  ships,  "The  light  I  give  you  for 
your  safety  is  emblematic  of  this 
land — it  is  free." 

Just  how  big  the  establishment 
must  be  is  realized  more  easily  by 
considering  the  enormous  size  of 
coast  line  than  in  any  other  way. 
Measured  in  steps  of  thirty  miles  it 
is  huge;  measured  in  steps  of  three 
miles,  which  go  into  and  out  of  a 
multitude  of  bays,  coves,  shelters, 
inlets,  etc.,  it  is  enormous.  The 


table  on  page  136  shows  just  how 
big  it  really  is. 

To  protect  such  a  coast  line  re- 
quires an  infinite  variety  of  warn- 
ing devices,  and  a  great  number  of 
each.  There  are  1,662  lights  other 
than  the  2,837  so-called  minor  lights, 
53  stations  on  which  are  maintained 
light  vessels,  commonly  called  light- 
ships, 479  gas  buoys,  and  124  float 
lights,  a  total  of  5,155  lighted  aids 
to  navigation. 

The  unlighted  aids  to  navigation 
are  scarcely  less  important  and  even 
greater  in  number.  Five  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  fog  signals  blare 
raucously  in  fog  and  mist,  50  sub- 
marine signals  give  their  peculiar 
warnings,  86  unlighted  whistling 
buoys  and  237  unlighted  bell  buoys 
give  their  mournful  notes,  2,001  day- 
beacons  show  the  way  and  6,488 
other  buoys  mark  channels  and 
shoals,  a  total  of  9,389  unlighted 
aids  to  navigation  and  a  grand  total 
of  14,544  aids  to  navigation  of  all 
kinds.  These  and  other  statistics 
here  given  are  as  of  June  30,  1915. 

It  is  evident  that  the  lighthouse 
establishment  of  the  United  States 
must  require  considerable  money  to 
conduct  and  the  able  efforts  of  a 
fair  army  of  people.  The  appropria- 
tion for  the  maintenance  of  the  ser- 
vice for  1916  was  $5,164,030,  which 
included  $250,000  for  new  lighthouse 
tenders.  Of  the  balance,  $2,775,000 
will  go  for  general  expenses  and  the 
rest  for  salaries  and  pay. 

The  service  is  divided  into  nine- 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,  Inc. 


136 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


TOTAL   S^ACOAST   LINE    UNDER    JURISDICTION   OP    THE    UNITED    STATES 


General 
coast  line 
in  steps  of 
30  miles 

Detailed 
coast  or 
channel  line 
in  steps  of 
3  miles 

Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  of  the  United  States  . 

Statute  miles 
3  480 

Statute  miles 
9  732 

Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States  
Porto  Rico,  adjacent  United  States  islands,  and  Guantanamo 
Great  Lakes  and  connecting  waters,  United  States  portion.  . 
Alaska                                     

1,404 
374 
2,520 
7,300 

3,294 
449 
4,020 
22,654 

Hawaiian  Islands  and  Midway  Islands 

788 

1  018 

Guam                                   

86 

92 

American  Samoan  Islands 

76 

91 

Total  coast  line  under  United  States  Lighthouse  Service 
Coastal  rivers  on  which  aids  to  navigation  are  maintained 
by  the  United  States  Lighthouse  Service  (Atlantic  and 
Gulf  coasts,  1,374  miles;  Pacific  coast,  242  miles)  
Interior  rivers  on  which  aids  to  navigation  are  maintained 
by  the  United   States  Lighthouse   Service    (Mississippi 
River,  1,920  miles;  Ohio  River,  967  miles;  Missouri  River. 
390  miles'  other  rivers  949  miles) 

16,028 

41.350 
1,616 

4  226 

Total  coast  line  and  rivers  under  United  States  Light- 
house Service  

47,192 

Philippine  Islands  (lighted  by  Philippine  Government)  
Panama  Canal  Zone  (coast  line  only)         .         .     . 

4,080 
17 

11,571 
40 

Total  seacoast  line  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  (not  including  Great  Lakes  and  rivers)  

17,605 

48,881 

teen  districts,  each  with  its  own  in- 
spector and  force.  In  the  Bureau  at 
Washington  and  the  nineteen  dis- 
tricts, there  are  123  inspectors,  en- 
gineers, draftsmen,  mechanicians, 
etc.,  145  clerks,  messengers,  janitors 
and  office  laborers,  71  depot  keep- 
ers and  assistants,  1,471  light  keep- 
ers and  assistants,  226  laborers  in 
charge  of  minor  lights,  1,556  labor- 
ers in  charge  of  post  lights  and 
buoys,  12  custodians  of  reservations, 
1,605  officers  and  crews  on  tenders 
and  light  vessels,  278  employees  of 
the  field  force  for  construction  and 
repair  (registered)  and  305  of  the 
same  unregistered,  a  total  of  5,792 
employees. 

Forty-four  depots  are  maintained 
in  the  various  districts  for  storage 
and  distribution  of  supplies,  repairs 
to  apparatus,  scraping  and  painting 
of  buoys,  and  similar  purposes. 
Forty-six  lighthouse  tenders  carry 
supplies  to  and  from  the  various  de- 
pots, supply  lighthouses  which  can- 


not otherwise  be  reached  with  food, 
coal,  fuel  oil  and  supplies,  put  down 
and  take  up  buoys,  attend  beacon 
and  fog  signals,  and  in  general  keep 
the  aids  to  navigation  where  they 
belong  and  performing  their  duties. 
During  the  year  these  forty-six  ves- 
sels steamed  a  total  of  469,000  nau- 
tical miles. 

The  fifty-three  light  vessel  sta- 
tions are  kept  supplied  with  ships 
from  the  total  fleet  of  66  light  ves- 
sels. Thirty-five  of  these  are  steam- 
ers, 29  are  sailing  vessels. 

The  service  is  one  of  warning  and 
of  aid  to  navigation,  yet  its  crews 
have  always  co-operated  with  the 
Life  Saving  Service  (now  incorpor- 
ated in  the  Coast  Guard)  or  taken 
the  initiative  where  necessary  in  the 
saving  of  life  and  property.  It  is 
merely  incidental  but  none  the  less 
worthy  of  note  that  during  the  year 
on  143  occasions,  services  were  ren- 
dered in  the  saving  of  life  or  prop- 
erty by  employees  of  the  service. 


CAPE   HATTERAS   LIGHT   STATION  CAPE    CHARLES    LIGHT    STATION,    VA. 

MINOT'S   LEDGE  LIGHT   STATION,   MASS.    POINT    REYES    LIGHT    STATION,    CALIF. 
THE  PROTECTORS  OF   THE  FAIRWAYS   OF   COMMERCE 


PROTECTION    AT    SEA 


139 


The  service  publishes  a  great 
many  different  booklets,  which  in- 
clude six  light  lists  for  the  various 
coasts  and  rivers,  buoy  lists  for  each 
of  its  nineteen  districts,  a  weekly 
"Notice  to  Mariners,"  of  which  al- 
most 200,000  copies  are  distributed 
yearly,  a  monthly  lighthouse  ser- 
vice bulletin,  for  employees,  etc. 

The  ideals  and  esprit  de  corps  of 
the  service  are  of  the  highest,  and 
the  efficiency  of  the  various  crews, 
their  pride  in  their  work,  and  their 
determination  to  "keep  the  light 
burning"  make  of  the  service  one 
which  is  literally  the  standard  of 
the  world. 

THE    COAST    GUARD 

On  January 
28,  1915,  the 
Coast  Guard  Act 
was  passed, 
merging  into  one 
great  service  two 
which  had  previ- 
ously served  the 
maritime  world 
together,  but  un- 
der separate  administration. 

The  Revenue  Cutter  Service  was 
originally  established  in  1790,  at  the 
second  session  of  the  First  Congress, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  first 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  need  for  the  services  of 
a  coast  patrol  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  customs  laws  and  an  organized 
armed  force  for  the  protection  of  the 
sea  coast,  there  being  at  that  time 
no  naval  establishment. 

The  Life  Saving  Service  was  not 
the  creation  of  a  single  legislative 
act,  but  the  result  of  a  series  of  en- 
actments dating  ba£k  to  1848,  which 
had  in  view  the  preservation  of  life 
and  property  from  shipwreck.  In 
1871  a  definite  life-saving  system 
was  inaugurated  and  administered 
in  conjunction  with  the  Revenue 
Cutter  Service  until  June  18,  1878, 
when  Congress  established  the  Life 
Saving  Service  as  a  separate  organi- 
zation. 

As  the  Life  Saving  Service  was 
maintained  for  the  purpose  of  sav- 


ing life  and  property  along  the  coast, 
and  as  one  of  the  principal  functions 
of  the  Revenue  Cutter  Service  in 
time  of  peace  was  to  perform  simi- 
lar duties  on  the  seas,  the  two  ser- 
vices necessarily  co-operated  with 
and  supplemented  each  other  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  this  work  of 
conservation.  It  became  apparent 
that  closer  co-ordination  and  increas- 


GETTING    READY    A    SUBMARINE    MINE 
WITH   DRY   GUN    COTTON 


ed  efficiency  would  result  from  the 
union  of  both  services  in  one  or- 
ganization. The  result  is  the  pres- 
ent Coast  Guard. 

The  duties  of  the  Coast  Guard  are 
so  many  and  various  that  its  own 
most  condensed  report  requires 
three  hundred  and  ten  closely  print- 
ed pages.  It  saves  life  at  sea  and 
assists  wrecked  persons.  It  cares 
for  mariners  in  distress  and  boards 
ships  and  examines  papers  for  viola- 
tions of  law.  It  seizes  vessels  violat- 
ing the  law  or  makes  report  of  such 
violation,  patrols  regattas,  removes 
derelicts,  saves  property,  enforces 
neutrality,  patrols  for  ice  and  pro- 
tects seals.  It  warns  vessels  of  dan- 
ger, recovers  and  buries  bodies  cast 
up,  fights  forest  fires,  and  fires  in 
wharves  and  shipping.  It  helps 
maintain  public  order,  apprehends 
law  breakers  and  prevents  suicides. 
It  recovers  stolen  property,  restores 


140 


OUR    COUNTRY   AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


CUTTERS  PUMPING  OUT  A  WATERLOGGED  BARK  STRANDED  AT  LOST  HARBOR, 

ALASKA 


lost  children  to  parents,  furnishes 
transportation  to  other  branches  of 
the  public  service  and  acts  as  pilot 
in  cases  of  emergency.  So  active 
is  this  splendid  service  that  during 
the  year  just  passed  there  .were  but 
five  days  when  some  unit  of  the  ser- 
vice was  not  actively  engaged  in 
wreck  or  rescue  work  and  the  aver- 
age day's  work  was  the  rendering  of 
assistance  of  some  variety  in  more 
than  six  cases. 

All  that  a  marine  police  patrol 
can  do,  the  Coast  Guard  does;  all 
that  a  Life  Saving  Service  can  do, 
the  Coast  Guard  does. 


The  Coast  Guard  possesses  24 
cruising  cutters,  18  harbor  cutters, 
and  279  coast  stations.  The  activ- 
ities of  the  year  resulted  in  the  sav- 
ing of  1,507  lives,  and  the  saving  of 
vessels  and  cargoes  valued  at  $11,- 
088,730,  as  well  as  556  cases  of  as- 
sistance rendered  not  catalogable  as 
of  either  life  or  property. 

The  total  expenditures  for  both 
branches  of  the  Coast  Guard  totaled 
$5,027,752.71.  Other  Government  de- 
partments and  Bureaus  occasionally 
return  a  surplus  to  the  Treasury — 
the  Post  Office  has  done  so  and  the 
Patent  Office  does  so  regularly.  But 


A    STANDARD    SURF     BOAT     LAUNCHED     THROUGH    BREAKERS 
A  COAST   GUABD   STATION   AND  LIFE  BOAT   AT   SQUAN   BEACH,    N,   J. 


142 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


no  matter  how  valuable  in  money  the 
saving  effected  by  other  Governmen- 
tal activities  may  be,  few  if  any 
bureaus  can  point  to  so  clean  cut  a 
record  as  this  actual  rescue  work  of 
property,  otherwise  a  total  loss,  val- 
ued at  more  than  twice  the  cost  of 
the  whole  service,  and  throw  in  the 
lives  saved  of  the  population  of  a 
small  town  for  good  measure ! 

It  is  the  business  of  a  Coast 
Guard  cutter  to  get  rid  of  derelicts 
whenever  they  are  encountered,  and 
frequently  their  duty  to  hunt  up 


violations,  involving  fines  totaling 
$220,500.  Thirty-seven  race  courses 
were  patrolled,  for  the  protection  of 
life  and  property.  The  fur  seal 
patrol  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Ber- 
ing Sea  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Coast 
Guard,  which  keeps  three  vessels  on 
duty  during  the  summer  months,  and 
two  do  ice  patrol  duty  to  locate  ice- 
bergs and  field  ice  in  the  Atlantic 
steamship  lines,  to  give  warnings  to 
trans-Atlantic"  vessels  and  prevent 
loss  of  life  and  property. 
The  Coast  Guard  has  its  own 


BLOWING     VP     A     SUNKEN     MENACE     TO     NAVIGATION     BY     MEANS     OF 
SUBMARINE    MINES 


derelicts  reported.  Last  year  26 
were  either  blown  up  or  towed  to 
port  and  turned  over  to  their  own- 
ers, involving  the  saving  of  $161,000 
in  property  and  saving  who  knows 
what  lives  or  property  in  preventing 
these  obstructions  to  navigation 
from  doing  damage. 

The  enforcement  of  the  navigation 
laws  led  to  the  boarding  and  exami- 
nation of  24,817  vessels  during  the 
year,  resulting  in  772  reports  for  law 


academy,  located  at  New  London, 
Connecticut,  where,  after  severe 
competitive  examinations,  young 
men  are  given  a  course  in  train- 
ing which  compares  not  unfavorably 
with  both  Annapolis  and  West  Point, 
including  practice  cruises  upon  the 
cutter  "Itasca." 

In  addition  to  its  other  work,  the 
Coast  Guard  works  in  conjunction 
with  the  Board  of  Life  Saving  Ap- 
pliances, which  considers  new  inven- 


PROTECTION    AT    SEA 


148 


tions  and  devices  and  makes  recom- 
mendations as  to  their  adoption  or 
development. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  in 
every  case  where  a  wreck  occurs 
or  assistance  is  rendered,  a  com- 
plete success  can  be  had.  But  the 
proportion  of  lives  saved  over  lives 
lost  is  very  large.  During  the  year 
just  passed,  84  disasters  within  the 
scope  of  the  service  were  attended 
with  loss  of  life.  In  every  such 
case,  according  to  law,  an  immediate 
investigation  was  made,  with  the 
inspiring  result  that  in  no  case 
was  loss  of  life  chargeable  to  negli- 
gence or  failure  of  the  service,  but 
to  circumstances  beyond  human 
control. 

It  would  require  more  pages  than 
there  are  words  here  available  to 
describe  in  detail  even  the  more  im- 
portant accomplishments  and  activ- 
ities of  the  Coast  Guard,  but  the 
following  summary  perhaps  repre- 


sents its  work  as  well  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do  in  tabular  form. 


DIVEE    FROM    CUTTER    DESCENDING    TO 
OLD   DOMINION   S.S.    "MONROE" 


COAST  GUARD  WORK  FOR  YEAR  ENDING  JUNE  30,  1915. 

Lives  saved  or  persons  rescued  from  peril 1,507 

Persons  on  board  vessels  assisted 10,952 

Persons  in  distress  cared  for 813 

Vessels  boarded  and  papers  examined 24,817 

Vessels  seized  or  reported  for  violation  of  law 772 

Fines  and  penalties  incurred  by  vessels  reported $220,500.00 

Regattas  and  marine  parades  patrolled,  in  accordance  with  law 37 

Vessels  to  which  assistance  was  rendered 1,504 

Instances  of  miscellaneous  assistance 556 

Derelicts  and  obstructions  to  navigation  removed  or  destroyed 26 

Value  of  vessels  assisted  (including  cargoes) $10.927,730.00 

Value  of  derelicts  recovered  and  delivered  to  owners $161,000.00 

Appropriations  for  1915,  including  repairs  to  cutters  and  establishing 
stations: 

Revenue-Cutter  Service $2,536,716 . 25 

Life-Saving  Service 2,550,525 . 36  $5,089,241 . 61 

Net  expenditure  for  maintenance  for  1915: 

Revenue  Cutter  Service $2,530,371 . 17 

Life-Saving  Service 2,497,381 . 54 

Total  for  Coast  Guard ...  $5 ,027,752 . 71 


APPRENTICES    ENGAGED    IN    EXAMINING    A    LOCOMOTIVE    UNDER    COMPETENT 

INSTRUCTION 


AN  AIR  BRAKE   INSTRUCTION   CAR 


CHAPTER  XII. 
RAILROADS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


WITH  the  exception  of  the  ag- 
ricultural   and    manufactur- 
ing industries,  the  railroads 
ol  the  United  States  occupy  the  at- 
tention of  a  larger  number  of  people 
and  give  employment  to  more  men 
than  any  other  industry. 

To  consider  so  vast  a  subject  in 
a  short  space  it  is  necessary  to  sep- 
arate it  into  only  its  most  important 
divisions.  This  chapter,  therefore, 
will  deal  with  the  railroads  of  the 


mon  consent  of  all  railroad  men,  into 
three  classes.  Class  I.  includes  the 
183  railroads  which  have  operating 
revenues  in  excess  of  one  million  dol- 
lars, Class  II.  includes  the  285  rail- 
roads which  have  operating  revenues 
less  than  one  million  dollars,  but 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  Class  III.  includes  the 
431  railroads  which  have  operating 
revenues  of  less  than  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Irving  Underbill 

THE    ARCHITECTURE    OF    THE    PENNSYLVANIA    TERMINAL    AT    NEW    YORK    IS 

MOST    IMPRESSIVE 

United    States    under    headings    of         The  majority  of  the  statistics  dis- 


"Physical  Aspects,"  "Financial," 
"Public  Service,"  "Human  Rela- 
tions," closing  with  a  short  refer- 
ence to  the  street  railways  of  the 
various  cities  of  the  country. 

There  are  altogether  in  the  United 
States  899  railroad  companies.  These 
are  divided,  both  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  and  by  com- 


cussed  in  this  chapter  are  of  roads 
of  Class  I.  only.  These  Class  I. 
roads,  however,  are  vastly  in  the  ma- 
jority as  far  as  mileage  and  im- 
portance are  concerned.  Of  the  ap- 
proximately 266,000  miles  of  track, 
229,000  of  it  is  operated  by  Class 
I.,  20,000  by  Class  II.,  and  from 
16,000  to  17,000  by  Class  III. 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


146 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Statistics  for  this  chapter  have 
been  gathered  from  many  sources, 
the  principal  ones  being  the  reports 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion, the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of 
Railway  Economics,  and  the  reports 
of  the  Bureau  of  Railway  News  and 
Statistics.  Inasmuch  as  these  three 
statistical  gathering  organizations 
frequently  cover  the  same  subject  by 
statistics  from  a  dissimilar  number 
of  sources,  they  do  not  always  agree 
in  detail,  but,  in  the  main,  they  agree 
in  almost  every  particular. 

PHYSICAL    ASPECTS 

Track 

Four  hundred  and  forty-eight  op- 
erating companies,  including  all  of 
Class  I.  and  almost  all  of  Class  II., 
render  reports  covering  247,312  miles 
of  track,  of  which  1,913  miles  go 
through  Canada  and  52  miles  into 
Mexico.  Of  this  mileage  11,000 
miles  were  operated  under  trackage 
rights,  leaving  236,600  miles  as  the 


real  physical  mileage  of  the  country. 
On  a  basis  of  the  1914  reported  pop- 
ulation of  98,372,266  this  means  that 
for  every  390  people  in  the  United 
States  there  is  a  railroad  mile  of 
line. 

Railroad  construction  in  this  coun- 
try is  on  the  decrease  rather  than 
the  increase.  Eight  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  miles  were  built  in  1915 
against  1,531  miles  in  1914.  These 
figures  are  for  main  line  tracks.  In- 
cluding auxiliary  tracks,  sidings, 
etc.,  1,319  miles  were  built  in  1915 
as  against  2,120  built  in  1914.  This 
new  construction  was  the  smallest 
within  half  a  century  and  reflects  in 
a  most  comprehensive  manner  the  ef- 
fect of  the  industrial  depression  re- 
sulting from  the  European  War  on 
this  country  in  1915.  Since  the  panic 
of  1893,  the  largest  railway  mileage 
was  built  in  1902,  when  over  6,000 
miles  of  new  track  was  constructed. 
The  total  track  constructed  since 
1893,  including  1915,  is  81,529  miles. 


38O 

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C"    3OO 

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I89O  '695  1900  1905  i9to  "  1915 

RAILWAY  MILEAGE   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

The  apparent  decrease  in  1915  is  due  to  the  use  of  figures  from  private  sources,  official 
figures  not  being  available.     See  page  147 


RAILROADS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


147 


The  most  recent  official  figures  are 
those  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  for  1914,  which  gives 
for  the  whole  country  a  total  of  all 
tracks  of  387,208  miles.  This  in- 
cludes yard  tracks,  sidings,  fourth, 
third,  second  and  single  track  as 
well  as  main  line  mileage.  The  1915 
statistics,  gathered  by  private 
sources  make  the  total  for  the  coun- 
try 379,344  miles,  including  the 
same  tracks  as  are  given  in  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission  fig- 
ures. 


tives  there  are  301  electric  locomo- 
tives operating  upon  steam  roads  in 
the  United  States.  These  are  of  all 
sizes,  but  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  the  world's  largest  and  must 
powerful  freight  locomotive  is  driven 
by  electricity.  It  is  used  to  haul 
trains  over  the  Rockies  from  Mon- 
tana into  Idano  and  the  electricity 
used  is  generated  by  water  power. 
The  length  of  the  locomotive  is 
1121/2  feet  and  it  weighs  284  tons. 
Compare  this  to  the  average  weight 
in  tons  of  the  steam  locomotives  of 


THE   SAFETY  FIRST   TRAIN   OF   THE   B.    &  0. 
Shows    the    possibility    of    the    railroad    for    exhibition    purposes. 


LOCOMOTIVES 

Upon  these  miles  of  tracks  there 
are  running  to-day  upward  of  65,000 
locomotives.  These  engines  possess 
tractive  power  of  2,004,321,000 
pounds,  a  weight  so  inconceivable 
that  only  a  comparison  can  make  it 
evident.  If  it  were  possible  to  hang 
at  the  end  of  a  long  rope,  passing 
over  a  pulley,  as  many  huge  ships 
as  would  balance  the  pull  in  pounds 
of  these  locomotives  it  icould  require 
more  than  twenty-one  vessels  each 
the  size  and  displacement  of  the  ill- 
fated  "Lusltania"  to  equal  the  com- 
bined effort  of  the  locomotives  of 
the  United  States! 

In  addition  to  the  steam  locomo- 


the   United    States,    which   in    1915 
was  84.2  tons. 

CARS 

The  locomotives  of  the  United 
States  haul  54,378  passenger  cars 
and  2,362,914  freight  cars.  These 
have  a  capacity  of  94,995,821  tons, 
an  average  of  40.2  tons  per  car.  It 
is  interesting  to  look  back  to  the 
census  of  1902  and  find  that  in  that 
year  the  average  ton  capacity  of  a 
car  was  but  28.  Of  the  passenger 
cars  10,841  are  all  steel  construc- 
tion, 4,334  steel  underframe,  and  39,- 
203  cars  are  yet  of  wood  construc- 
tion. The  total  seating  capacity  of 
all  passenger  cars  is  2,277,438,  an 
average  of  56  passengers  per  car. 


148 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


While  the  value  of  equipment,  of 
course,  varies  widely  with  tne  roads 
buying  it  and  the  service  for  which 
it  is  adapted,  it  may  be  interesting 
to  note  the  prices  paid  for  equip- 
ment. A  locomotive,  in  1913,  of 
average  size  and  hauling  capacity 
cost  $23,135,  a  chair  car  $11,580,  a 
parlor  car  $17^019,  a  dining  car 
$20,227,  a  coach  $12,369,  a  baggage 
car  $11,185,  a  mail  car  $16,901,  and 
a  cafe  car,  $18,381.  This  would 
make  the  total  price  of  a  train  so 


into  box  cars,  flat  cars,  stock  cars, 
coal  cars,  tank  cars,  refrigerator 
cars  and  others.  Of  tne  freight  cars 
in  use  in  1914  by  Class  I.  and  Class 
II.  roads  more  than  one  million  were 
box  cars,  146,000  were  flat  cars,  82,- 
900  were  stock  cars,  9uO,000  were 
coal  cars,  8,500  were  tank  cars,  48,- 
800  were  refrigerating  cars,  and  mis- 
cellaneous cars  made  up  the  balance 
of  97,000. 

Just  how  important  freight  cars 
are  to  this  country  is  more  easily 


A  SPLENDID  EXAMPLE  OF  ELECTRIFICATION  ON  A  TRUNK  LINE,   C.,   M.    &  ST.   P. 


made  up  $130,797,  although,  of 
course,  few,  if  any,  trains  have  so 
many  varieties  of  rolling  stock  be- 
tween engine  and  rear. 

To  the  average  traveler  the  pas- 
senger car  and  baggage  equipment  is 
the  important  thing.  To  the  country 
as  a  whole,  however,  the  freight  cars 
are  the  vital  element  in  railroad 
operation. 

To  the  public  all  freight  cars  are 
freight  cars  pure  and  simple,  but 
to  the  railroad  man  they  are  divided 


illustrated  by  a  comparison  of  the 
cars  abroad  than  in  any  other  man- 
ner. In  twenty-four  countries  of  Eu- 
rope there  are  369,911  passenger  cars 
against  54,378  in  this  country.  In 
the  same  twenty-four  countries  there 
are  3,443,532  freight  cars  against 
2,362,914  freight  cars  in  the  United 
States.  Passenger  traffic  is  appar- 
ently much  more  important  in  Eu- 
rope than  it  is  here,  or  perhaps  it 
would  be  more  truthful  to  say  that 
our  huge  territory  and  vast  expanse 


RAILROADS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


149 


makes  transportation  of  goods  by 
train  a  more  vital  necessity  here 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

FINANCIAL 

The  money  invested  in  railroads, 
the  dividends  paid,  the  gross  and 
net  income,  the  wages  and  salaries 
disbursed,  form  such  incredible  sums 
that  only  a  real  appreciation  of  the 
vastness  of  this  country  can  make 
their  comprehension  possible. 

Perhaps  the  most  amazing  facts 
are  found  in  a  comparison  of  Ameri- 
can financial  statistics  with  those  of 
Europe.  Travelers  have  so  dinned  it 
into  the  ears  of  Americans  that  as 
a  nation  we  are  spendthrifts  and 
extravagant  that  it  comes  with  the 
force  of  a  decided  shock  to  learn 
how  far  we  have  beaten  the  older 
countries  in  railroading. 

MILE  COST 

According  to  1914  statistics, 
America  had  244,253  miles  of  rail- 
roads as  against  Europe's  198,554. 
The  capital  cost  of  European  lines 
was  $25,059,644,889,  while  America 
paid  but  $15,917,192,925.  These  fig- 
ures reduce  to  $126,211  as  the  cost 
per  mile  of  line  for  Europe,  which 
includes  not  only  the  low  cost  of 
railroads  of  Norway  and  Sweden, 
but  the  exceptionally  high  costing 
and  magnificent  road  beds  of  Eng- 
land. The  United  States  figures  re- 
duce to  $65,166  per  mile  of  line.  In 
other  words,  we  have  some  thirty 
per  cent  greater  mileage  at  some 


forty  per  cent  less  cost  than  Europe, 
and  these  are  facts  in  face  of  a 
scale  of  wages  double  that  of  the 
European  standard,  and  higher  rates 
for  borrowed  money. 

CAPITALIZATION 

According  to  the  "Bureau  of  Rail- 
way News  and  Statistics,"  448  oper- 
ating companies,  covering  247,312 
miles  of  line,  of  which  188,247 
were  owned  and  59,065  miles  were 
leased,  reported  a  capitalization  as 
given  at  the  bottom  of  the  page. 

NEW    CAPITAL 

In  1914  over  $300,000,000  of  new 
capital  was  invested  in  extensions, 
improvements  and  new  construction. 
But  1915,  a  year  of  great  uncertain- 
ty due  to  conditions  abroad,  saw  less 
than  $100,000,000  similarly  em- 
ployed. What  1916  will  show  is  as 
yet  unknown,  but  with  the  tremen- 
dous increase  in  the  business  of  this 
country  and  the  almost  unprece- 
dented call  for  transportation  facil- 
ities, it  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted 
that  much  new  financing  will  be  ar- 
ranged. 

VALUATION   OF   RAILROADS 

When  Congress  appropriated 
$50,000,000  to  conduct  an  inquiry 
into  and  to  establish  the  actual  phys- 
ical valuation  of  American  railroads, 
many  uninformed  people  dubbed  the 
national  legislature  wildly  extrava- 
gant. But  four  years  have  passed, 
the  end  of  the  work  is  nowhere  in 
sight,  and  it  may  well  not  arrive 


CAPITALIZATION  OF  448  COMPANIES  OPERATING  247,312  MILES  OF  LINE 

IN  1915 

Capital  stock.  .  $7,277,410,880 

Funded  debt 10,466,465,240 

Receivers'  certificates 52,362,863 


Total  188,247  miles  owned $17,796,238,983 

Rental  59,065  miles,  $116,852,303^  at  4^ 2,596,717,844 

Total  247,312  miles  operated $20,392,956,827 

Deduction 

Railway  stock  owned $2,716,852,149 

Funded  debt  owned 1,970,496,754 

Miscellaneous  securities  owned 2,525,950       4,689,874,853 

Net  capitalization,  1915 

Net  capitalization  per  mile  operated 

Net  capitalization  per  mile  of  track  (379,344) 


$15,703,081,974 
63,495 
41,393 


150 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


until  an  additional  appropriation  is 
made. 

While  no  very  exact  figures  are  ob- 
tainable, it  is  doubtful  if  the  present 
actual  value  of  American  railways 
can  be  much  less  than  the  unthink- 
able sum  of  $22,000,000,000,  which 
would  certainly  not  bear  out  any 
charges  of  over-capitalization.  More- 
over, official  figures  of  valuation  of 
railroads  within  certain  areas,  con- 
ducted by  several  States,  go  far  to 
prove  that  roads  are  anything  but 
over-capitalized.  For  instance,  State 
valuations  made  in  Washington 
(1905)  gave  the  cost  of  reproduction 
as  194  millions,  capitalization  161 
millions.  South  Dakota  (1908)  cost 
of  reproduction  106  millions,  capital- 
ization 109  millions.  Minnesota 
(1907)  cost  of  reproduction  360  mil- 
lions, capitalization  300  millions. 
Wisconsin  (1909)  cost  of  reproduc- 
tion 296  millions,  capitalization  225 
millions.  Nebraska  (1911)  cost  of 
reproduction  327  millions,  capitali- 
zation 263  millions.  New  Jersey 
(1911)  cost  of  reproduction  374  mil-' 
lions,  capitalization  333  millions. 


WHO  OWNS  THE  RAILROADS 

Railroads  are  owned  in  two  ways 
— by  those  who  purchase  or  other- 
wise become  possessed  of  stock,  and 
those  who  lend  money  to  buy,  build, 
or  extend  railways,  by  the  purchase 
of  bonds.  In  the  final  analysis,  a 
railway  is  owned  by  its  stock  hold- 
ers, who  owe  the  money  represented 
by  the  outstanding  bonds  to  the 
bond  holders,  but  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses of  comparison  a  bond  holder 
is  a  part  owner  of  a  railroad,  since 
his  interest  charges  have  a  claim  on 
earnings  prior  to  the  stock  dividend 
claim.  An  exact  census  of  stock 
holders  is  not  a  possibility,  for  many 
reasons,  one  of  them  being  the  fre- 
quent (hourly)  changes  in  owner- 
ship. But  according  to  the  best  re- 
ports obtainable,  there  are  some 
623,000  stock  holders  for  American 
railroads,  a  figure  almost  double 
that  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  for  1182  roads  in  1904. 

It  would  be  wearisome  to  report 
stock  holders  and  increase  for  ever.y 
road  in  the  United  States,  but  those 
for  twenty  of  the  great  roads,  show- 


STOCK  HOLDERS  IN  TWENTY  PRINCIPAL  AMERICAN  RAILWAYS, 

1904  TO   1915 


SHARE 

HOLDERS 

NAME  OF  COMPANY 

1904 

1915 

Pennsylvania  R   R                                                 ....... 

44,175 

93,332 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  

17,823 

42,738 

New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River                             

11,781 

25,446 

New  York  New  Haven  &  Hartford 

10  842 

26,589 

Union  Pacific                                            .        

14,256 

30,970 

Great  Northern 

383 

22,103 

Southern  Pacific        

2,424 

32,143 

Northern  Pacific 

368 

20,413 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  

5,832 

19,230 

Baltimore  &  Ohio                                       "                                    

7,132 

36,568 

Illinois  Central 

9,123 

10,963 

Erie                                                                                                

4,309 

5,868 

Chicago  &  North-  Western                      

4,109 

10,394 

Boston  &  Maine                                                                          

7,402 

8,076 

Norfolk  &  Western                 .  .    .          

2,911 

8,815 

Delaware  &  Hudson                                                                  

3,819 

7,137 

Denver  &  Rio  Grande 

2,910 

4,618 

Missouri  Pacific                                                                  

1,861 

6,972 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio 

1,478 

6,604 

Louisville  &  Nashville                                 

1,672 

4,703 

Total 

154,610 

423,682 

Increase  since  1904.  per  cent.  .  . 

174.0% 

RAILROADS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


151 


A   POWDERED    COAL    BURNING    LOCOMOTIVE 


ing  the  increase  from  1904  to  1915, 
are  given  on  page  150. 

Figures  for  railway  bond  holders 
are  not  obtainable,  although  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency  report- 
ed in  1913  that  more  than  eleven 
hundred  millions  of  stocks  and  bonds 
together  were  held  by  savings  banks, 
State  banks,  private  banks  and  loan 
and  trust  companies  as  assets. 

INCOME     AND     EXPENDITURE 

Railroad  bookkeeping  is  so  intri- 
cate a  subject  and  railroad  financing 
is  so  involved  a  matter,  requiring 
experts  who  spend  years  in  the  work 
for  its  thorough  comprehension,  that 
only  general  figures  can  be  gone  into 
here.  The  Bureau  of  Railway  Econ- 
omics summarizes  the  income  ac- 
count as  on  page  152,  including  only 
Class  I.  roads. 

MISCELLANEOUS   FINANCIAL 

The  railroads  of  the  United  States 
pay  a  generous  proportion  of  the  na- 


tion's taxes.  The  official  figures  for 
1914  show  that  the  huge  sum  of 
$1*0,531,575  was  turned  into  the 
various  treasuries  from  all  the  rail- 
roads, a  percentage  of  4.61  of  the 
earnings.  The  taxes  amount  to 
$572  per  mile  of  road,  more  than 
double  the  tax  of  1900  and  almost 
three  times  the  tax  of  1890  when 
$199  was  the  tax  per  mile.  The 
relative  proportion  of  tax  to  earn- 
ing capacity,  however,  has  not  risen 
so  fast.  In  1890  2.96  per  cent  of 
earnings  were  paid  in  taxes,  while  in 
1914  the  amount  had  only  increased 
to  4.61  per  cent  as  above.  In  New 
Jersey  railroads  pay  $3,068  per  mile 
of  line,  in  South  Dakota  but  $255. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the 
relative  prices  paid  for  fuel  and  the 
amount  expended  during  the  last  fif- 
teen years,  for  the  measure  of  fuel 
used  is  a  measure  of  the  power  ex- 
pended. Unofficial  figures  for  1915 
place  the  cost  of  locomotive  fuel  at 


HELL  GATE  BRIDGE,  OVER  THE  EAST  RIVER,  LONGEST  ARCH  BRIDGE  YET  BUILT 


152 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


$215,359,532,  which  is  considerably 
less  than  the  official  figures  for  1914, 
which  are  $242,800,799.  Fifteen 
years  ago  but  $90,593,965  was  paid 
for  fuel,  although  the  cost  of  coal 
per  ton  at  the  mine  was  $1.04  in 
1900  and  but  $1.18  in  1914.  The 
1915  cost  was  less,  compared  with 
operating  expenses,  than  at  any  time 
for  fifteen  years,  which  may  indi- 
cate that  the  new  campaign  for  econ- 
omy of  operation  and  coal  saving  has 
had  a  visible  effect. 

THE  RAILROAD'S  MONEY 
Every  one  hundred  dollars  a  rail- 


road receives  comes  from  the  sources 
shown  on  page  153. 

PUBLIC    SERVICE 

Passengers 

There  are  upwards  of  3,000,000 
square  miles  of  territory  in  the 
United  States  and  more  tha n 
100,000,000  people.  If  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  United 
States  had  taken  a  journey  in  1915, 
according  to  unofficial  figures,  that 
journey  would  have  been  one  of 
slightly  more  than  33.6  miles.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  figures  for  1914,  the 


RAILWAY  INCOME,  FISCAL  YEAR,  1915  : 

Railway  operating  revenues $2,870,913,815 

Railway  operating  expenses 2,020,823,953 

Net  operating  revenue 850,089,862 

Railway  tax  accruals 133,219,085 

Uncollectable  railway  revenues 649,921 

Railway  operating  income. . .  .• 716,220,856 

Miscellaneous  operating  income 1,874,357 

Total  operating  income 718,095,213 

Non-operating  income 237,368,878 

Gross  income 955,464,091 

Deductions  from  gross  income: 

Interest  on  funded  debt 386,483,143 

Interest  on  unfunded  debt 28,401,357 

All  other  deductions 227,589,566 

Total  deductions 642,474,066 

Net  income 312,990,025 

Disposition  of  net  income: 

Dividend  appropriations 169,563,440 

Imcome  appropriated  for  investment  in  physical  property 20,807,042 

Other  income  appropriations 12,890,736 

Total  appropriations  of  income 203,261,218 

Balance  to  credit  of  profit  and  loss 109,728,807 

The  source  of  revenue  and  the  disposition  is   shown  in  the  following 
table : 

RAILWAY  OPERATING  REVENUES,  FISCAL  YEAR,   1915: 

Freight $1,977,402,839 

Passenger  service  train  revenue 783,401,352 

Passenger 629,155,489 

Mail ' 56,949,414 

Express 68,942,809 

All  other  rail-line  transportation 36,718,310 

Total  rail-line  transportation 2,797,522,501 

Water  line  transportation 13,034,648 

Incidental  operating  revenue 58,089,968 

Joint  facility  credit  balance 2,266,698 

Total  operating  revenues $2,870,913,815 

RAILWAY  OPERATING  EXPENSES,  FISCAL  YEAR,  1915: 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structures $363,902,819 

Maintenance  of  equipment 496,666,194 

Traffic  . 59,394,183 

Transportation — rail-line 1,002,619,070 

Transportation — water-line 8,173,995 

Miscellaneous  operations 22,869,188 

General  expenses 74,143,669 

Transportation  for  investment — Cr 6,945,165 

Total  operating  expenses $2,020,823,953 


KAILROADS   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 


153 


average  journey  per  person  was 
33.61  miles  for  Class  I.  and  II. 
roads  only. 

The  32,327,466,000  theoretical  pas- 
sengers who  were  carried  one  mile 
in  1915  each  paid  2,023  cents  for  the 
privilege,  and  the  277,232,653,000 
tons  of  freight,  also  carried  one 
mile,  cost  7.38  mills  per  mile  for  the 
hauling ! 

The  table  on  page  154,  aranged  by 
the  Bureau  of  Railway  News  and 
Statistics,  gives  the  official  figures  for 
1914  and  the  unofficial  figures  for  1915 
of  both  freight  and  passenger  service. 


In  1915,  961,000,000  passengers 
were  carried.  Passenger  trains 
rolled  up  the  enormous  mileage  of 
607,000,000— a  distance  which  would 
carry  a  passenger  three  and  one- 
quarter  round  trips  to  the  sun  and 
back  again  !  There  were  an  average 
of  53  passengers  to  every  passenger 
train,  and  the  nine  million  and  some 
passengers  paid  enough  to  make  a 
passenger  revenue  of  $654,000,000, 
more  than  double  the  revenue  of 
fifteen  years  ago  and  at  only  a  min- 
ute increased  cost  per  mile,  the  1900 
figures  being  $0.0203  per  mile. 


Where  it  comes  from: 


THE   RAILROAD  DOLLAR 


Passengers     

Products    of    Mines 

Manufactures 

Products  of  Agriculture. 
Products  of  Forests.  .  .  . 
Products  of  Animals  .  .  . 

Merchandise     

Miscellaneous    freight... 

Mail     

Express     

Miscellaneous     


22.20 

23.86 

15.10 

11.72 

7.00 

4.15 

4.32 

3.32 

.1.97 

2.37 

3.99 


Every  one  hundred  dollars  a  railroad  disburses  is  spent  for  these  pur- 


poses in  these  amounts : 

Labor    

Fuel    and    locomotive    supplies 

Material     

Loss  and  damages 

Taxes    

Dividends   and   surplus 

Betterments     

Rent  of   leased   roads 

Interest     


$43.20 

8.12 

16.90 

2.22 

4.72 

5.00 

1.08 

3.97 

14.79 


154 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


FEEIGHT 

In  1914,  Class  I.  and  II.  roads 
moved  85,555,053  tons  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  agriculture,  23,763,262  tons 
of  animals,  539,255,980  tons  of  min- 
ing products,  108,506,272  tons  of  for- 
est products,  135,175,536  tons  of 
manufactured  products,  36,519,321 
tons  of  merchandise  and  38,447,567 
tons  of  miscellaneous  freight. 

These  statistics  show  the  some- 
what curious  result  that  over  55  per 
cent  of  freight  moved  in  this  coun- 
try is  from  mines  and  that  both  for- 
est products  and  manufacturing 
products  form  a  greater  percentage 
of  the  weight  moved  than  do  ag- 
ricultural products.  Reducing  to  a 
unit  basis  official  figures  show  that 
in  1914,  there  were  288,319,890,210 
tons  of  freight  carried  one  mile, 
equivalent  to  the  transportation  of 
a  fleet  of  Lusitanias  numbering 
6,864,759;  in  other  words,  an  un- 
thinkable number. 

MAIL    AND    EXPRESS 

In  addition  to  the  public  service 
of  moving  passengers  and  freight, 


the  railways  haul  the  mail  and  the 
express,  two  activities  which  are  at 
the  very  bed  rock  of  modern  busi- 
ness. The  nation  pays  to  the  rail- 


CLASS    OF    FREIGHT    MOVED,    1914 

roads  the  sum  of  $57,973^106  yearly 
(1915  figures,  Bureau  of  Railway 
News  and  Statistics)  for  carrying 
the  mail,  and  the  express  companies 
$69,784,468  for  carrying  express,  a 
figure  by  the  way,  which  is  declining 


COMPARATIVE  SUMMARY  OF  PASSENGER  AND  FREIGHT  SERVICE  FOR 
THE  YEARS  ENDING  JUNE  30,   1915  AND  1914 


1915 
Bureau  Figures 

1914f* 

Official  Figures 

Miles  Represented 

247  312 

245  624 

PASSENGER  SERVICE 
Passengers  carried 

961  351  000 

1  053,139  000 

Passengers  carried  1  mile  

32,327,466,000 

35,258,498,000 

Passengers  carried  1  mile  per  mile  of  line  
Mileage  of  revenue  passenger  trains  

130,715 
572,103,000 

144,278 
602,388,000 

Average  number  of  passengers  in  train  
Average  journey  per  passenger  miles 

56.5 
33  6 

56 
33  61 

Passenger  car  miles  

3,203,881,000 

3,393,283,000 

Average  passengers  per  car     .    . 

10.09 

10.39 

FREIGHT  SERVICE 
Number  of  tons  reported  carried  

1,779,512,000 

1,976,138,000 

Tons  carried  1  mile 

277  232  653,000 

288,319,890,000 

Tons  carried  1  mile  per  mile  of  line  
Mileage  of  revenue  freight  trains 

1,120,983 
548,363,000 

1,176,923 
605,923,000 

Average  number  of  tons  in  trains  

505 

452 

Typical  haul  of  average  railway,  miles  
Mileage  of  revenue  mixed  trains 

156 
35,022,000 

146 
32,565.000 

Total  revenue  train  mileage  

1,155,489,000 

1,242,080,000 

Total  mileage  freight  cars 

19,935,455,000 

20,796,895,000 

Average  tons  per  car  (loaded  and  empty)  

13.55 

13.86 

Total  locomotive  miles 

1,562,839,000 

1,689,748,000 

t  Exclude  returns  from  switching  and  terminal  companies,  included  in  1915,  1914 
*  Class  I.  and  II.  only 


RAILROADS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


155 


TRIPLEX    COMPOUND    LOCOMOTIVE— ARTICULATED    MALLET    TYPE— ERIE 

EAILROAD 
(Built    by    Baldwin    Locomotive    Works) 


yearly,  due  to  the  expansion  of  par- 
cel post. 

HUMAN    RELATIONS 

If  we  consider  the  average  family 
as  consisting  of  three  people,  then 
there  are  33,333,333  adult  males  in 
the  United  States.  One  man  in  every 
nineteen  is  a  railroad  employee. 

EMPLOYEES 

According  to  the  official  figures 
for  1914,  there  are  1,695,483  persons 
employed  by  the  railroads,  or  685 
employees  for  every  mile  of  line. 
These  include  for  each  mile  of  line 
6  general  and  other  officers,  35 
clerks,  15  station  agents,  66  station 
men,  25  engineers,  26  firemen,  19 
conductors,  55  other  trainmen,  23 
machinists,  29  carpenters,  103  shop- 
men, 18  section  foremen,  135  track- 
men, 15  switch  tenders,  crossing 
tenders  and  watchmen,  16  telegraph 
operators  and  dispatchers  and  99 
other  employees. 


COMPENSATION 

The  railroads  disbursed  in  1914 
$1,373,422,472  to  all  employees.  Of 
the  employees  receiving  this  huge 
sum — about  what  it  cost  to  run  the 
United  States  Government,  including 
the  army  and  navy — the  general  and 
other  officers,  of  course,  received  the 
largest  average  daily  compensation, 
of  $8.40. 

Next  highly  paid  are  the  engi- 
neers, with  an  average  daily  wage  of 
$5.24,  followed  by  conductors,  aver- 
age daily  wage  $4.47;  machinists, 
average  daily  wage  $3.27;  firemen, 
average  daily  wage,  $3.22 ;  trainmen, 
average  daily  wage,  $3.09,  down  to 
trackmen  with  an  average  daily 
wage  of  $1.59.  It  is  a  peculiar  com- 
mentary on  the  disproportionate  re- 
lation between  responsibility  and 
pay,  to  learn  that  the  average  daily 
wage  of  carpenters  in  railroad  work 
is  $2.66  and  that  of  telegraph  ope- 


EEPLICA   OF   THE   "DE   WITT   CLINTON,"   POSED   BEFORE   THE   MOVING   PICTURE 
CAMERA,     THE  ORIGINAL  WAS  THE  THIRD  LOCOMOTIVE  IN  AMERICA 


156 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


A  TRAVELING  CHAPEL  ON  WHEELS.     CHAPEL  CAR   "ST.  PETER" 


rators  and  dispatchers  but  $2.56. 
According  to  well  digested  statis- 
tics, in  20  years  the  pay  of  engineers 
has  increased  45  per  cent,  firemen 
58  per  cent,  conductors  47  per  cent, 
other  trainmen  63  per  cent.  The 
average  pay  per  year  of  railroad  em- 
ployees of  all  classes  is  $825,  with 
a  road  passenger  engineer  averaging 
over  $2,000,  a  road  passenger  fire- 
man averaging  over  $1,200,  and  a 
road  passenger  conductor  averaging 
over  $1,700  per  annum.  Altogether 
twenty-two  classes  of  employees  re- 
ceive over  $1,000  a  year. 

FOREIGN    PAY 

The  question  is  of  intense  interest 
to  the  general  public,  because  of  the 
effect  upon  the  public  of  railroad  la- 
bor dissatisfaction,  and  the  economic 
effect  of  strikes.  Without  going  into 
any  controversy  between  employees 
and  roads  or  in  any  way  taking 
sides,  it  is  nevertheless  interesting 
to  compare  conditions  here  with 
those  abroad.  In  this  country,  let  it 
be  noted,  the  ratio  of  compensation 
paid  employees  to  gross  earnings  is 
43  per  cent.  The  ratio  of  compen- 
sation of  employees  to  the  operating 
expenses  is  61  per  cent  and  the 
total  ratio  of  all  expenses  and  taxes 
to  gross  earnings  is  75  per  cent.  Now 
compare  with  the  table  on  page  158. 

ACCIDENTS 

The  American  people  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  frightful  railroad 
accidents  that  they  have  accepted 
largely  without  question  the  state- 
ments too  often  made  that  no  rail- 


roads are  so  unsafe  as  those  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  year  1915, 
325  railroad  companies  operated 
161,948  miles  of  line,  according  to 
the  Bureau  of  Railway  News  and 
Statistics,  with  absolutely  no  fatal- 
ities to  passengers  in  train  accidents. 
This  mileage  is  very  nearly  that  of 
Europe  excluding  England.  To  car- 
ry 18,083,050,000  passengers  a  mile 
and  kill  none  of  them  is  a  real 
record. 

In  1891  the  United  States  had 
161,275  miles  of  road,  carried  531,- 
183,998  passengers  and  killed  110 
of  them.  In  1915,  roads  operating 
a  greater  mileage,  with  40  per  cent 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHAPEL  CAR 


RAILROADS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 


157 


more  traffic  and  double  the  freight 
traffic,  killed  none.  Three  com- 
panies have  a  flawless  record  for 
twelve  years,  23  for  eleven  years,  39 
for  ten  years,  48  for  nine  years,  63 
for  eight  years,  77  for  seven  years, 
87  for  six  years,  107  for  five  years, 
136  for  four  years,  178  for  three 
years,  232  for  two  years,  and  11 
companies  in  1915,  23  in  1914,  and 
15  in  1913  killed  only  one  passenger 
each. 

On  all  roads  and  in  all  ways, 
there  were  196  passengers  killed  and 
10,279  injured  in  1915.  Employees 
on  duty  were  killed  to  the  number 
of  1,594  and  38,060  were  injured. 
Two  hundred  and  fifteen  employees 
not  on  duty  were  killed  and  840  in- 
jured, and  trespassers,  persons  not 
trespassers  but  not  connected  with 
or  traveling  upon  railways  and  rail- 
road industrial  jaccidents  not  in- 
volving train  operation  made  up  the 


balance  of  the  grand  total  of  8,621 
persons  killed  and  162,040  injured. 
If  you  want  to  know  exactly  what 


PERCENTAGE  OF  EMPLOYEES  PER  MILE 
OF  LINE 

your  chances  are  of  being  killed  in 
a  railroad  accident,  supposing  fu- 
ture conditions  are  similar  to  those 


A  NEWSPAPER  PLANT   INSTALLED  IN  A  BAGGAGE  CAR 

A  complete  photo-engraving  plant,   composing  and  pressroom  was  provided.     This  was  the 
publicity  car  for  an  automobile  tour 


158 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


SUMMARY   SHOWING   NUMBER   OF   EMPLOYEES     COMPENSATION   AND 

AVERAGE  YEARLY  PAY  OP  THE  PRINCIPAL  EUROPEAN 

COUNTRIES  AND  OF  JAPAN 


COUNTKY 

Miles  of 
Railway 

Employees, 
Number 

Compensation 
per  year 

Average 
per  year 

Ratio   to 
Revenues 

*United  Kingdom  (1913)  .  .  . 
German  Empire  (1913)  .... 
Austria  (1912)  

23,691 
37,894 
14,185 

1:643,135 
786,466 
280  220 

$170,028,613 
321.639,536 
92  439  338 

$279 
409 
330 

27.2 
38.0 
40  1 

Hungary  (1912)  
Russia  (1910)  
France  (1908)  
Italy  (State,  1912)  
Switzerland  (All,  1913)  .  .  . 
t  Denmark  (State,  1914).  .  . 
Sweden  (1912)  

13,303 
41,622 
24,915 
8,387 
3,148 
2,333 
8  659 

147.194 
771  938 
442  709 
148,569 
45,386 
13,198 
48  330 

44  218.935 
163,149009 
115.125,400 
52.657,655 
16.697,901 
4,644,727 
18  578  561 

300 
211 
260 
354 
368 
352 
384 

38.3 
32.7 
34.4 
45.2 
33.5 
30.7 
42  8 

Roumania  (1914)  

2,200 

34  422 

8  523  168 

248 

38  4 

Belgium  (State,  1911)  
Japan  (1914) 

2,926 
5  348 

70,364 
112  087 

17,991,907 
12  655  621 

256 
113 

29.7 
22  3 

*  Of  British  railway  employees,  49,584  are  classed  as  boys,  and  the  compensation 
does  not  include  administrative  staff, 
t  Excludes  laborers. 
{  Census  1913,  latest  reported. 


of  1915,  the  method  is  simple  enough. 
As  there  were  389,487,542  passengers 
carried  a  mile  in  safety  for  every 
one  killed  in  1915,  merely  divide 
that  number  by  the  miles  of  your 
journey  to  find  your  proportionate 
chance.  Thus,,  if  you  happen  to  be 
going  a  distance  of  389  miles,  your 
chances  are  just  one  in  a  million  of 


being  killed.  Ask  any  accident  in- 
surance company  what  the  hazards 
are  in  walking  a  city's  streets  and 
see  how  safe  American  railroads 
really  are! 

STREET    RAILWAYS 

The  term  is  inclusive  of  what  is 
commonly  known  as  trolley  line  de- 


£8 
26 
24 
22 
20 
18 
16 
14 
12 
10 
6 


«   I- 


1890  J895  1900  IQO5  I9IO 

DEATH   PER  BILLION   PASSENGER  MILES 
THE  FALLING  RATE  OF  FATALITY  JN  AMERICAN  RY.  TRAVEL 


1915 


RAILROADS   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES 


159 


THE  HAZARDOUS  LIFE  OF  A  RAILROAD 

LINEMAN 


velopment  and  the  statistics  given 
include  not  only  city  and  suburban 
but  interurban  electric  roads.  The 
authority  is  the  United  States  Cen- 
sus for  1912,  which  provides  the 
most  recent  facts  obtainable  for  the 
industry. 

Nine  hundred  and  seventy-five  op- 
erating companies  control  41,064 
miles  of  track.  Of  this  mileage  38,- 
958  miles  are  for  overhead  trolley, 
the  balance  being  conduit  and  all 
other  forms  of  electrical  propulsion 
including  storage  battery  and  third 
rail. 

City  and  suburban  lines  utilize  24,- 
699  miles  of  track  and  interurban 
roads  16,365  miles. 

In  1912  these  roads  carried  12,- 
135,341,716  passengers.  Not  all 
these  produced  revenue,  2,423,918,- 

024  riding  on  transfers  and  165,869,- 

025  being  carried  free. 

The  street  railways  possess  94,- 
016  cars,  of  which  76,162  are  pas- 
senger cars,  7,794  are  express, 
freight,  mail  and  baggage  cars,  and 
10,060  work  cars,  snow  plows, 
sweepers,  etc. 

Two  hundred  and  eighty-two  thou- 


four hundred  and  sixty-one  em- 
ployees of  all  sorts  have  a  pay  en- 
velope holding  $200,890,939  per 
year,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  as 
showing  the  tremendous  demand  for 
this  variety  of  transportation  that 
the  number  of  people  so  employed 
was  100  per  cent  greater  in  1912 
than  in  the  previous  census  of  1902. 

The  gross  income  of  the  975  com- 
panies in  1912  was  $585,930,517,  of 
which  $51,650,117  was  paid  out  in 
dividends.  It  is  interesting  to  note, 
in  view  of  the  agitation  for  muni- 
cipal ownership  and  the  cry  contin- 
ually going  up  that  street  railways 
make  huge  sums  of  money  by  crowd- 
ing cars,  that  the  average  passenger 
revenue  is  5.27  cents,  of  which  3.49 
cents  must  go  for  operating  ex- 
penses. 

The  greatest  street  railway  mileage 
is  in  New  York  State,  which  posses- 
ses 4,605  miles  against  4,117  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  4,069  miles  in  Ohio. 
The  least  mileage  is  in  New  Mexico, 
which  possessed  10.6  miles  in  1912, 
followed  by  Nevada  with  11.27. 


Copyright  Underwood  &  Underwood 

PAINTING  THE  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 


STEEL    MAIL    CAR    READY    TO    PICK   UP    A    SACK   EN    ROUTE 


INTERIOR   OF   MAIL   CAR 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   POSTAL  SERVICE 


NO  part  of  the  United  States 
Government  comes  into  such 
close  and  intimate  touch  with 
its  people  as  the  Pest  Office  Depart- 
ment. No  function  of  our  govern- 
ment is  more  important ;  indeed,  our 
whole  commercial  life  is  bound  up 
with  the  Post  Office,  and  a  failure 
of  the  mail  service  would  mean  a 
domestic  tragedy  compared  to  which 
a  state  of  war  would  be  trivial. 


York.  Boats,  stage-coaches,  pony 
express — the  means  of  transporta- 
tion available  meant  delays,  uncer- 
tainty and  expense.  To-day  two 
cents  will  carry  an  ounce  of  letter 
to  the  Philippines,  to  Alaska,  to 
Porto  Rico,  to  Canada,  to  Mexico, 
to  Great  Britain  and  some  countries 
of  Central  and  South  America,  and 
five  cents  will  take  half  an  ounce 
anywhere  in  the  civilized  world. 


THE    MOTORCYCLE    COLLECTOR    CAN 
COVER    GREAT   DISTANCES 


THE  AUTO   IS  A  SPEEDY  COLLECTOR 


These  facts,  generally  recognized  by 
common  consent,  have  been  enacted 
into  laws  governing  the  mail  service 
which  make  "U.  S.  Mail"  sacred 
property,  and  the  integrity  of  the 
service  a  national  pride. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  histori- 
cal resum6  of  the  service  since  its 
formation  by  the  Continental  Con-  - 
gress,  but  a  word  or  two  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  system  may  not 
be  out  of  place.  In  1792  it  cost 
seventeen  cents  to  send  a  letter  the 
distance  between  Boston  and  New 


Beginning  with  a  pony  express  for 
letters  only,  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment has  extended  its  activities  to 
meet  the  needs  of  advancing  civili- 
zation until  its  ramifications  and 
activities,  while  clearly  defined,  have 
broadened  far  beyond  the  mere  car- 
rying of  letters. 

First  of  these  broadening  horizons 
was  the  registry  system  by  which 
loss  of  valuables  is  practically  neg- 
ligible. City  Delivery  in  all  large 
cities  has  saved  literally  billions  of 
dollars  worth  of  time.  "Special  De- 


Copyright  by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


162 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


livery"  has  saved  special  time  when 
special  time  is  of  great  value — and 
at  a  minimum  cost.  This  was  in- 
troduced in  1885 — the  faint  forerun- 
ner of  another  system  of  delivery 
which  has  had  most  tremendous  and 
far-reaching  effects.  This,  of  course, 
is  Rural  Free  Delivery — the  familiar 
"R.  F.  D."  which  has  so  altered 
country  living  conditions  as  to  make 
them  unrecognizable  to  those  who 


sidered  to  have  been  spent  for  two 
cent  stamps,  then  there  was  pur- 
chased and  presumably  used  in  1915 
the  unthinkable  total  of  12,801,850,- 
426  two  cent  stamps,  enough  for 
every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
United  States  to  use  on  128  letters 
each  during  the  year! 

Of  course  the  $256,037,008.51  re- 
ceived for  stamps  and  stamped  pa- 
per, which  was  92  per  cent  of  the 


NUMBER  OF  POST  OFFICES  BY  CLASSES,  JULY  1,   1911  TO  1915 


YEAR 

First 
class 

Second 
class 

Presidential 
Third 
class 

Total 

Fourth 
class 

Total 

1911.  . 
1912 

444 

457 

1,907 
1  940 

5,643 
5  830 

7,994 
8  227 

51,287 
50  502 

59,281 

58  729 

1913  
1914 

485 
521 

1,979 
2  081 

5,942 
6  044 

8.406 
8  646 

49,614 
48  164 

58,020 
56  810 

1915  

533 

2,138 

6,249 

8,920 

47,460 

56,380 

knew  them  best.  Next  came  the 
Postal  Savings  system,  and  finally 
Parcel  Post,  so  that  our  Post  Office 
Department  is  now  a  banking  insti- 
tution, an  express  company,  a  special 
carrier,  an  insurance  office,  a  dis- 
seminator of  knowledge  (second 
class  mail  privilege),  and  an  en- 
courager  of  thrift  and  business  as 
well  as  a  mere  carriage  institution 
for  folded  pieces  of  paper. 

POST  OFFICES 

The  numerical  facts  about  our 
postal  system  are  fairly  staggering 
in  their  size.  We  have  (Report  for 
year  ending  June  30,  1915)  56,380 
post  offices,  exclusive  of  589  in  the 
Philippines,  under  War  Department 
jurisdiction,  and  14  on  the  Canal 
Zone.  Post  offices  are  slowly  de- 
creasing in  number,  due  to  the  ex- 
tension of  the  R.  F.  D.  service,  as 
shown  in  the  table  above. 

STAMPS 

There  are  no  statistics  available 
for  the  number  of  letters  transported 
or  delivered,  for  obvious  reasons. 
But  if  the  total  money  expended  for 
stamps  and  stanmed  paper  be  con- 


postal  revenue,  was  not  all  for  two 
cent  stamps,  but  the  comparison 
stands. 

SECOND    CLASS    MAIL 

Second  class  mail,  consisting  of 
newspapers  and  periodicals  mailed 
by  the  publishers  at  the  uniform  rate 
of  a  cent  a  pound  for  all  distances 
except  within  the  county  of  publi- 
cation, where  the  postage  is  free, 
amounted  to  1,109,285,785  pounds. 
Ten  Lusitanias  would  not  weigh  so 
much,  nor  would  five  thousand  loco- 
motives, all  over  the  average  size 
used  to  pull  trains !  What  this 
service  means  to  us,  as  an  educa- 
tional matter,  is  beyond  computa- 
tion. 

PARCEL  POST 

It  is  impossible  to  say  of  any  one 
work  of  the  Post  Office  Department, 
"This  is  the  most  important." 
Whether  parcel  post  or  second  class 
mail  privilege,  postal  savings  or 
first  class  mail,  foreign  mail  or  R. 
F.  D.  is  most  vital  is  hardly  im- 
portant here.  But  certainly  the  es- 
tablishment and  successful  working 
of  the  parcel  post  system  is  not 
least  important  among  those  great 


164 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


improvements  the  Postal  Service  has 
made  within  recent  years. 

Exact  statistics  of  parcels  carried 
are  not  obtainable.  To  enable  the 
department  to  ascertain  the  growth 
of  the  service  as  well  as  its  revenues 
and  costs,  periodical  counts  have 
been  made  and  detailed  information 
obtained  at  all  first  and  second 
class  offices  and  at  a  number  of  rep- 
resentative third  and  fourth  class 
offices  of  the  number  of  parcels 
handled,  the  amount  of  postage 
thereon,  and  the  costs  of  the  service. 
Statistics  in  the  minutest  detail  are 
compiled  from  these  data  for  the  50 
largest  offices,  which  represent  ap- 
proximately one-half  of  the  entire 
postal  business.  The  latest  count, 
from  October  1  to  15,  1915,  shows 
that  30,939,730  parcels  were  mailed 
at  these  offices,  on  which  the  postage 
amounted  to  $1,856,602.82,  and  the 
total  weight  aggregated  41,815,452 
pounds. 

These  statistics  indicate  that  the 
Postal  Service  is  now  handling 
1,000,000,000  parcels  annually.  Dur- 
ing the  fiscal  year  18,000,000  parcels 
were  insured,  an  increase  of  34.78 
per  cent  over  the  preceding  year. 
The  number  of  parcels  sent  C.  O.  D. 
during  the  year  was  over  4,000,000, 
an  increase  of  57.66  per  cent  over  the 
number  handled  the  previous  year. 


Number    of    Routes    in    Thousands 
Appropriation    in    Millions    of    Dollars 

R.    F.    D.    ROUTES   AND   APPROPRIATION 


RURAL    FREE    DELIVERY 

Since    its    establishment    in    1897 
the  R.  F.  D.  business  has  grown  by 


FISCAL  YEAR 

Routes 

Increase  in 
routes 

Appropriation 

1897 

82 

$40  000 

1898  
1899  
1900  

153 
412 
1,259 

71 
259 

847 

50,250 
150,032 
450,000 

1901  
1902 

3,761 

8  298 

2,502 
4  537 

1,750,796 
4  089  075 

1903  
1904 

15,119 
24  566 

6,821 
9  447 

8,580,364 
12  926  905 

1905  
1906 

32,110 
35  766 

7,544 
3  656 

21,116,600 
25,828,300 

1907  

37,728 

1,962 

28,200,000 

1908       

39  277 

1,549 

34,900,000 

1909 

40  628 

1  351 

35  673  000 

1910.  . 

41,079 

451 

37,260,000 

1911 

41  656 

577 

38,860,000 

1912  
1913 

42,199 
42  805 

543 
606 

42,790,000 
47,000,000 

1914  

43,652 

847 

47,500,000 

1915  

43,877 

225 

53,000,000 

THE  POSTAL   SERVICE 


165 


Photo   International   News   Service 

CONVEYING    MAIL    IN    A    GREAT    RAIL- 
WAY   TERMINAL 


leaps  and  bounds.  Begun  with 
eighty-two  tentative  and  experimen- 
tal routes,  it  now  has  close  to  fifty 
thousand.  Its  initial  appropriation 
was  $40,000,  the  present  appropria- 
tion is  $53,000,000,  most  of  which,  of 
course,  goes  to  pay  the  43,718  car- 
riers, the  average  pay  of  whom  is 
not  quite  $1,100  annually. 

The  table  on  page  164  gives  in 
short  form  the  increase  in  routes. 

POSTAL    SAVINGS 

In  January,  1911,  the  United 
States  made  its  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment a  great  bank,  by  beginning  the 
Postal  Savings  System.  By  it  peo- 
ple of  small  means  are  encouraged 
to  save,  are  provided  with  a  quick 
and  easy  means  of  banking,  without 
Rny  red  tape,  are  assured  the  safety 
of  their  money  with  all  the  resources 
and  credit  of  the  United  States,  and 
are  given  the  privilege  of  converting 
savings  into  United  States  bonds 
without  trouble,  risk  or  the  payment 
of  premiums. 


o 

-i 

co 

^H 

•ti 

§.2 

CQ 

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166 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


On  June  30,  1915,  postal  savings 
deposits  aggregated  $65,684,708,  a 
gain  of  $22,240,437,  or  51.2  per  cent, 
compared  with  amount  on  deposit 
at  the  close  of  the  previous  fiscal 
year.  The  number  of  depositors  in- 
creased from  388,511  to  525,414,  a 
gain  of  136,903,  or  35.2  per  cent. 

The  growth  of  the  system  from  the 
time  of  its  inauguration  on  January 
3,  1911,  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal 
year  ended  June  30,  1915,  is  shown 
in  the  table  on  page  165. 

POSTAL   SAVINGS  BONDS 

A  depositor  may  exchange  de- 
posits in  amounts  of  $20  and  multi- 
ples for  2y2  per  cent  United  States 
postal  savings  registered  or  coupon 
bonds.  Postal  savings  bonds  were 
issued  during  the  year  to  the  amount 
of  $1,799,040.  Since  the  beginning  of 
the  service  $6,260,360  in  registered 
and  $1,046,740  in  coupon  postal  sav- 
ings bonds  have  been  issued. 

DEPOSITORS 

Depositors    born    outside    of    the 


United  States  constitute  58.7  per 
cent  of  the  total  number  of  deposi- 
tors and  own  $47,161,620,  or  71.8 
per  cent  of  the  total  postal  savings 
deposits.  Natives  of  Russia  lead 
with  20.7  per  cent  of  the  total  pos- 
tal savings  deposits  to  their  credit; 
follow  in  order  natives  of  Italy,  14.2 
per  cent,  Great  Britain  and  its  col- 
onies 8.8  per  cent,  Austria  8.7  per 
cent,  Hungary  4.3  per  cent,  Ger- 
many 4.1  per  cent,  Sweden  2.2  per 
cent,  and  Greece,  1.8  per  cent.  Other 
foreign-born  depositors  owned  7  per 
cent  of  all  postal  savings  deposits. 

BAILWAY   MAIL 

To  handle  this  part  of  the  subject 
in  a  paragraph  is  an  impossibility. 
Railway  post  offices  are  in  service  on 
216,439  miles  of  lines  and  travel 
322,079,796  miles  a  year.  An  army 
of  34  officers,  114  chief  clerks  and 
19,351  railway  clerks  accomplished 
during  the  year  8,644,285,506  distri- 
butions and  redistributions  of  pieces 
of  first-class  and  5,212,698,814  dis- 


THE    TRANSPORTATION    OF    MAIL    BY    AEROPLANE    IS    AN    ACCOMPLISHED    FACT 

Note  the  Mail  Bags 


THE  POSTAL  SERVICE 


167 


tributions  and  redistributions  of 
pieces  of  second,  third  and  fourth- 
class  matter,  a  total  of  13,856,- 
984,320  distributions  and  redis- 
tributions of  pieces,  exclusive  of 
registered  matter,  an  increase  of  3.35 
per  cent  over  the  previous  year. 

Of  registered  matter  there  were 
handled  and  rehandled  in  transit 
57,148,648  packages  and  cases,  1,- 
643,657  registered  pouches,  and  792,- 
950  inner  registered  sacks.  In  ad- 
dition, clerks  made  up  and  dis- 
patched 1,095,562  registered  pouches 
and  inner  registered  sacks ;  received 


122,447  lead-seal  sack  jackets ;  made 
up  and  dispatched  1,784  lead-seal 
sack  jackets  containing  20,265 
pieces;  and  received  and  opened  11,- 
451  lead-seal  sack  jackets  containing 
94,367  pieces. 

Of  the  13,856,984,320  pieces  of 
mail  matter  distributed  and  redis- 
tributed, 13,854,405,564  pieces,  or 
99.98  per  cent,  were  distributed  and 
redistributed  correctly. 

DISTANCE    OF    MAIL    TRAVEL 

The  Postal  Service  sends  its  mail 
carriers  of  all  classes  over  12,725 


ROLLER  SKATES  IN  THE   CHICAGO   POST  OFFICE   SAVE   TIME   AND   SHOE   LEATHER 


and  opened  813,266  registered 
pouches  and  inner  registered  sacks; 
handled  and  rehandled  in  transit  2,- 
391,377  registered-package  jackets ; 
made  up  and  dispatched  803,779  reg- 
istered-package jackets,  containing 
5,505,412  pieces ;  received  and 
opened  722,517  registered-package 
jackets  containing  5,047,661  pieces; 
handled  and  rehandled  in  transit 


routes,  which  aggregate  285,853 
miles  in  length.  All  carriers  travel 
annually  537,714,199  miles,  equal  to 
traveling  around  the  earth  21,508 
times.  Should  one  man  make  this 
journey  at  the  express  train  rate  of 
fifty  miles  an  hour,  it  would  take 
him  1,230  years  to  cover  the  dis- 
tance, supposing  he  never  stopped  to 
rest! 


168 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


HOW  THE  POST  OFFICE  SPENDS  ITS  MONEY 


ITEMS 

On  account  of 
the  fiscal  year 
1915 

On  account  of 
the  previous 
fiscal  year 

Total 

Compensation  to  assistant  postmasters 
and  clerks  
Transportation  of  mails  on  railroads  .  . 
Rural  delivery  
City  delivery 

$53,246,246.92 
50,192,241.09 
49,740,895.05 
42,458,002  .  83 
30,376,378.90 
28,382,258.77 
7,822,300.08 
4,815,766.92 
4,015,024.97 

2,351,817.43 
2,349,815.41 
1,933.042.14 
1,889,725.80 
1,430,682.58 
1,198,181.66 
927,049  .  76 

882,583.19 

719,463.71 
652,664  .  40 

428,127.95 
352,203.22 
334,549.04 

290,025  .  78 
251,212.02 
249,966.81 
228,367  .  88 

208,023  .  65 
134,192.06 
133,102.03 
129,868.46 
128,039.39 
116,273.28 
106,366.91 
98,647.09 
94,001  .  82 
93,074.91 
76,017.26 
74,409  .  52 

73,954  .  63 
36,726.66 
35,787.92 
24,000  .  00 
12,843  .  89 
1570.91 

104,484  .  05 

$70,301.91 
4,544,732.87 
48,167.82 
35,406.90 
23,767.02 
25,984.33 
956,227.93 
42,158.26 
824,289  .  20 

328,908.48 
811,023.55 
190,224.59 
189.36 
141,104.58 
30,978  .  06 
148,573.93 

80,691  .  68 

82,415.33 
76,091.88 

184,631.24 
64,572.25 
36,425.31 

$53,316,548.83 
54,736,973.96 
49,789,062.87 
42,493,409.73 
30,400,145.92 
28,408,243.10 
8,778,528.01 
4,857,925.18 
4,839,314.17 

2,680,725.91 
3,160,838.96 
2,123,266.73 
1,889,915.16 
1,571,787.16 
1,229,159.72 
1,075,623.69 

963,274.87 

801,879.04 

728,756.28 

612,759.19 
416,775.47 
370,974  .  35 

290,025  .  78 
299,628.67 
256,839.77 
301,580.32 

208,023  .  65 
142,933.67 
172,685.93 
174,404.19 
148,332.07 
146,529.70 
109,683.36 
128,396.05 
104,617.26 
93,347.91 
87,687.88 
80,092  .  80 

93,583.60 
36,754.66 
42,034  .  25 
32,200.00 
16,788.30 
100,444.49 
69,852  .  48 

163,671.33 

Compensation  to  postmasters  
Railway  Mail  Service 

Transportation  of  mails  on  star  routes. 
Rant,  light,  and  fuel  
Railway  post  office  car  service  
Transportation  of  mails  —  wagon  serv- 
ice         .                    

Transportation  of  foreign  mails  
Mail-messenger  service  
Special  delivery  service 

Manufacture  of  stamped  envelopes  .  .  . 
Post-office  inspectors  

Transportation  of  mails  on  steamboats 
Transportation    of    mails  —  Pneumatic 
tube  service  
Transportation  of  mails  —  electric  and 
cable  cars                    

Manufacture  of  postage  stamps  
Freight  on  stamped  paper  and  mail 
bags  

Mail  bags  etc 

Manufacture  of  postal  cards  
Miscellaneous  items  at  first  and  second 

Canceling  machines 

48,416.65 
6,872.96 
73,212.44 

Twine  and  tying  devices  

Mail  transportation  in  Alaska  —  star.  .  . 
Payment  of  money  orders  more  than 
1  year  old 

Stationery  

8,741.61 
39,583  .  90 
44,535.73 
20,292  .  68 
30,256.42 
3,316.45 
29,748.96 
10,615.44 
273  .  00 
11,670.62 
5,683  .  28 

19,628.97 
28.00 
6,246.33 
8,200  .  00 
3,944.41 
98,873  .  58 
69,852.48 

59,187.28 

Supplies,  money-order  service  
Supplies,  city  delivery  service  
Indemnities,  domestic  registered  mail. 
Office  appliances  

Village  delivery  service  
Shipment  of  supplies  

Letter  balances  and  scales  
Mailbag  repair  shops  —  labor  

Official  and  registry  envelopes  . 

Facing  slips,  etc  

Miscellaneous  items,  1st  and  2d  class 
post  offices  purchases 

Mail-lock  repair  shops—  labor  
Stamping  appliances 

Rent  of  buildings,  Post  Office  Dept..  .  . 
Supplies,  Rural  Delivery  Service  
Balances  due  foreign  countries  
Indemnities,  lost  insured  mail  
Expenditures  under  23  smaller  items  of 
appropriation     (less    than    $20,000 
each)  

Total 

$289,199,978.75 

$9,346,047  .  67 

$298,546,026  .  42 

THE  POSTAL  SERVICE 


169 


TANANA 
POST  OFFICE. 


MAIL    TEAMS    LEAVING    FOR    THE    TRAILS,    INTERIOR    OF    ALASKA 


CROSSING    THE    YUKON  WITH   MAIL   AT    TANANA   MISSION 


170 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


WHERE    THE    POSTAL    EXPENSES    HE 


EEVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES 

The  total  revenues  of  the  Post 
office  are  $287,248,165.27,  which  rev- 
enues are  from  sale  of  stamps  and 
stamped  paper,  postage  other  than 
stamps,  foreign  mails,  box  rents, 
fines  and  penalties,  receipts  from 
unclaimed  letters,  money  orders  and 
postal  savings. 

Its  expenditures  are  listed  in  de- 
tail on  page  168,  because  of  the  in- 
tense interest  of  some  of  the  small 
items,  and  the  light  they  throw  on 
the  size  of  the  work.  Consider,  for  a 
moment,  the  business  which  spends 
over  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars 
a  year  in  twine,  which  needs  to  buy 
over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  mail  bags,  which  requires 
a  shop  to  mend  bags  which  costs  al- 
most a  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year  for  the  labor  alone  and  needs 
over  one  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  worth  of  stationery  up- 
on which  to  write  letters  about  car- 


ITNLOADING    MAIL    FROM   AN    OCEAN 
LINER 


rying  letters,  and  some  vague  notion 
of  the  huge  extent  of  this  greatest 
of  governmental  activities  may  be 
had. 

NOTE.  — •  Previous  years  '  have 
shown  a  surplus,  not  a  deficit,  and 
1916  will  show  one.  The  deficit  of 
about  12  millions  for  1915  is  directly 
traceable  to  the  falling  off  in  re- 
ceipts due  to  business  depression 
caused  by  the  war. 

Additional  information  regarding 
the  activities  of  the  service  may  be 
had  from  the  reports  of  the  Post- 
master General,  reports  of  each  of 
his  four  Assistants,  report  of  the 
Solicitor's  office,,  or  the  Postal  Guide, 
a  huge  book  of  postal  information 
sold  by  the  Post  Office  to  those  who 
need  its  information.  The  officials 
of  the  Post  Office  should  be  ad- 
dressed Post  Office  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


lit* 


OBBEKS   APOSTAL 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

WASHINGTON 

February  11,  191S 

Sir: 

It  will  be  a  signal  service  to  our  country 
to  arouse  it  to  a  knowledge  of  the  great  possibili- 
ties that  are  open  to  it  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 
The  door  of  opportunity  swings  wide  before  us. 
Through  it  we  may,  if  we  will,  enter  into  rich  fields 
of  endeavor  and  success.     In  order  to  do  this  we  must 
show  an  effectiveness  in  industrial  practice  which 
measures  up  to  our  best  standards.     We  must  avail  our- 
selves of  all  that  science  -can  tell  us  in  aid  of  in- 
dustry and  must  use  all  that  education  can  contribute 
to  train  the  artisan  in  the  principles  and  practice 
of  his  work.     Our  industries  must  be  self-reliant  and 
courageous  because  based  upon  certain  knowledge  of 
their  task  and  because  supported  by  the  efforts  of 
citizens  in  the  mills.     If  scientific  research  and 
the  educated  worker  go  hand  in  hajid  with  broad  vision 
in  finance  and  with  that  keen  self-criticism  which  is 
the  manufacturer's  first  duty  to  himself,  the 
fields  will  be  few  indeed  in  which  American  com- 
merce may  not  hold,  if  it  chooses,  a  primary  place. 
Youre  very  truly, 


The  Editor, 

The  Scientific  American, 

New  York  City. 


A   LETTER    FROM    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OUR  NATURAL  RESOURCES  AND  HOW  THEY 
ARE  BEING  DEVELOPED 

By  Hon.  FRANKLIN  K.  LANE,  Secretary  of  the  Interior 


PREPAREDNESS  is  generally 
understood  as  the  state  of  being 
ready  to  fight  if  necessary. 

But  the  finest  army  and  the  big- 
gest navy  in  the  world  cannot  con- 
stitute real  preparedness  without 
the  complete  mobilization  of  the  in- 
dustrial resources,  which  must  be 
behind  them.  Fortunately,  such  mo- 
Dilization  means  profit  and  develop- 
ment for  the  country,  in  the  absence 
of  any  war  or  threat  of  war. 

Industry  and  natural  resources 
are  strained  in  time  of  war  from 
two  great  causes :  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  get  supplies  from  abroad, 
and  the  demand  for  what  is  at  hand 
is  supernormal.  With  an  increased 
demand  and  a  possible  source  of 
supply  cut  off,  confusion  follows  un- 
less a  nation  is  industrially  prepared 
as  to  its  natural  resources  to  such 
an  extent  that  an  abnormal  demand 
does  not  throw  machinery  into 
disorder. 

The  natural  resources  of  the 
United  States  are  the  most  remark- 
able in  the  whole  world.  We  have 
made  some  mistakes  in  their  devel- 
opment, and  private  interests  have 
dominated  public  interests  in  some 
cases.  But  we  have  seen  our  mis- 
takes, corrected  many  of  them,  and 
are  now  correcting  others.  That 
this  policy  will  continue,  and  that 
nothing  will  interfere  with  the  de- 
velopment, conservation  and  proper 
use  of  our  enormous  natural  wealth, 
should  be  the  first  aim  of  all  who 


have   real   preparedness,   either  for 
war  or  peace,  at  heart. 

Some  months  since  I  sought  to 
learn  what  we  had  with  which  to 
meet  the  world  which  was  teaching 
us  that  war  was  no  longer  only  be- 
tween armed  forces,  but  an  endur- 
ing contest  between  all  the  life 
forces  of  the  contesting  parties, 
their  financial  strength,  their  indus- 
trial organization  and'  adaptability, 
their  crop  yields,  and  their  mineral 
resources,  and  that  it  ultimately 
comes  to  a  test  of  the  very  genius 
of  the  peoples  involved.  To  mo- 
bilize even  a  great  army  is  now 
no  more  than  an  idle  evidence  of  a 
single  form  of  strength  if  behind 
this  army  the  nation  is  not  organ- 
ized. An  army  is  no  longer  merely 
so  many  rifles  and  men,  cartridges 
and  horses ;  but  chemists  and  in- 
ventors, mines  and  farms,  automo- 
biles and  roads,  airships  and  gas- 
oline, barbed  wire  and  turning 
lathes,  railroads  and  weather 
prophets ;  indeed,  the  complete  ma- 
chinery of  an  industrial  nation's  life. 

With  the  exception  of  one  or  two 
minor  minerals,  the  United  States 
produces  every  mineral  needed  in 
industry.  We  produce  66  per  cent 
of  the  world's  output  of  petroleum, 
60  per  cent  of  its  copper,  40  per  cent 
of  its  coal  and  iron,  and  32  per  cent 
of  its  lead  and  zinc.  Tin  in  small 
quantities  is  produced  in  Alaska  and 
platinum  in  Oregon,  Nevada  and 
California,  manganese  in  Virginia, 


Copyright  by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


174 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Georgia,  Arkansas  and  California; 
but  of  these  latter  minerals,  as  of 
nickel  and  some  others  of  less  im- 
portance, our  supply  is  altogether 
inadequate  for  our  consumption.  We 
can  build  a  battleship,  or  an  auto- 
mobile (excepting  the  tires),  a  rail- 
road or  a  factory,  entirely  from  the 
products  of  American  mines  and  for- 
ests. To  replenish  the  soil  we  have 
phosphorus  in  abundance,  potash  is 
known  to  exist  in  the  deposits  of 
Searles  Lake,  California,  which, 
however,  is  not  yet  commercially 
available,  and  in  alunite,  where  it  is 
combined  with  aluminium  and  de- 
posits of  which  are  found  in  several 
States ;  and  nitrogen  can  be  extract- 
ed from  the  air  by  cheap  hydro- 
electric power  as  is  now  done  in 
Germany,  Norway  and  elsewhere. 
So  that  we  can  feed  the  earth  and 
keep  it  sustained.  Our  soil  and  cli- 
mate are  so  varied  that  we  can 
produce  all  the  grains,  fruits,  vege- 
tables and  fibers  known  to  the  tem- 
perate zone,  and  some  found  in  the 
semi-tropics.  And  to  crown  all 
these,  we  have  water  power  that 
can  be  made  to  generate  perhaps  as 
much  as  60,000,000  horse-power. 

Our  resources  are  not  alone  phy- 
sical. Our  ingenuity  and  ability  to 
design  the  machine  to  meet  the  need 
have  been  proven  a  thousand  times, 
never  more  convincingly  than  in  a 
compilation  of  the  most  necessary 
inventions  and  discoveries  which  the 
world  uses. 

During  the  past  fifty  years  the 
people  of  the  United  States  have 
uttered  two  thirds  of  the  revolu- 
tionary, epoch-making  inventions  of 
the  world,  from  the  telephone  and 
the  incandescent  lamp  to  Wright's 
aeroplane  and  high-speed  tool  steel. 
Each  day  we  issue  an  av.erage  of 
two  hundred  letters  patent  to  Amer- 
ican inventors,  and  the  number  of 
inventions  is  increasing  with  the 
years. 

How  great  a  resource  this  char- 
acteristic might  be  in  time  of  need 
has  been  amply  demonstrated  dur- 
ing the  present  war  in  Europe,  which 
has  denied  us  imports  formerly  con- 


sidered essential.  Benzol  and  toluol, 
foundation  of  aniline  dyes  and  ex- 
plosives, have  been  produced  from 
crude  petroleum  by  a  new  process 
discovered  by  Walter  F.  Rittman, 
of  the  Bureau  of  Mines.  That  an 
increase  in  the  amount  of  gasoline 
which  is  yielded  by  crude  petroleum 
is  also  possible  by  the  Rittman  pro- 
cess is  by  no  means  the  least  of  its 
advantages. 

Barium  salts,  needed  for  a  va- 
riety of  purposes,  were  formerly 
imported  in  large  quantities,  al- 
though the  raw  material,  barytes, 
occurs  in  extensive  deposits  in  this 
country.  We  now  manufacture  these 
salts  in  California,  Colorado,  Illi- 
nois, Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Ten- 
nessee and  West  Virginia,  the  new 
industry  not  only  meeting  the  do- 
mestic demand,  but  also  furnishing 
large  quantities  of  barium  com- 
pounds for  export,  and  we  are  sub- 
stituting domestic  barytes  for  the 
foreign  material  for  all  purposes. 
The  substitution  of  sodium  cyanide 
for  potassium  cyanide  in  the  treat- 
ment of  gold  ores  to  the  extent  of 
more  than  half  a  million  pounds  in 
Colorado  alone  illustrates  how  the 
potash  shortage  is  being  met 
throughout  the  mining  States.  Tung- 
sten, an  absolutely  essential  consti- 
tuent in  high-speed  tool  steel,  is 
being  mined  at  more  points  than 
ever  before  to  meet  the  special  de- 
mand in  the  steelworking  industry; 
a  tin  smelter  has  been  erected  to 
reduce  Bolivian  ores ;  cobalt,  which 
is  a  recent  and  valuable  acquisition 
to  the  family  of  steel-alloying  met- 
als, is  now  being  produced  in  quan- 
tity sufficient  to  lower  the  market 
price;  American  antimony  is  quoted 
in  the  metal  market  for  the  first 
time,  and  from  Alaska  alone  more 
antimony  has  been  shipped  this  year 
than  was  ever  produced  from  Amer- 
ican mines  in  any  one  year;  cad- 
mium, formerly  imported,  is  now  an 
article  of  export ;  and  in  other  minor 
details  full  independence  of  foreign 
supplies  is  being  worked  out.  Prac- 
tically all  the  crude  platinum  from 
Colombia  and  part  of  the  New  Zea- 


OUR    NATIONAL    RESOURCES 


175 


land  output  is  coming  to  the  United 
States  for  refining. 

There  is  probably  no  one  thing 
we  can  do  more  vital  to  real  pre- 
paredness than  a  comprehensive 
conservation  and  development  of 
our  petroleum  resources.  In  spite 
of  the  alarmists,  statistics  show  no 
immediate  prospect  of  a  coal  short- 
age; the  total  coal  produced  in  the 
United  States  is  a  minute  quantity 
compared  to  the  supply  in  sight. 

But  of  petroleum  we  have  no  such 
comforting  statistics.  How  much  of 
it  there  is  in  the  United  States  no 
one  knows.  The  Geological  Survey 
has  made  a  maximum  estimate  of 
twenty-three  billion  barrels,  which 
sounds  like  an  inexhaustible  supply. 
But  at  the  rate  that  it  is  now  being 
consumed  in  this  country  alone 
(265,000,000  barrels  a  year)  this 
does  not  mean  an  indefinite  supply, 
and  from  the  rapid  exhaustion  of 
some  fields  it  is  manifest  that  there 
can  be  no  real  approximation  of  the 
oil  in  our  lands.  Whatever  the  sup- 
ply, it  should  not  be  allowed  in  its 
crude  state  to  compete  with  coal  as 
fuel.  Petroleum  is  a  priceless  re- 
source, for  it  can  never  be  replaced. 
Trees  can  be  grown  again  on  the 
soil  from  which  they  have  been 
taken.  But  how  can  petroleum  be 
produced?  It  has  taken  the  ages 
for  nature  to  distill  it  in  her  sub- 
terranean laboratory.  We  do  not 
even  know  her  process.  We  may 
find  a  substitute  for  it,  but  have 
not  yet.  It  is  practically  the  one 
lubricant  of  the  world  to-day.  Not 
a  railroad  wheel  turns  without  its 
way  being  smoothed  by  it.  We  can 
make  light  and  heat  by  hydro-elec- 
tric power,  but  the  great  turbines 
move  on  bearings  that  are  smoth- 
ered in  petroleum.  From  it  we  get 
the  quick  exploding  gas  which  is  to 
the  motor  and  the  airship  what  air 
is  to  the  human  body.  To  industry, 
agriculture,  commerce  and  the 
pleasures  of  life,  petroleum  is  now 
essential. 

Among  our  natural  resources 
which  should  be  developed  as  speed- 
ily as  possible  to  their  full  capacity 


as  a  measure  of  preparedness  for  a 
successful  peace  or  the  prosecution 
of  any  war  into  which  the  future 
may  draw  us,  are  our  wonderful 
water  powers.  Among  the  strange 
things  done  by  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  to  give  an  added  and  peculiar 
value  to  the  ledges  of  granite  which 
confine  our  Western  streams  and 
turn  them  into  dam  sites,  useful 
for  purposes  of  power  generation. 
How  many  of  these  are  on  public 
land  not  yet  disposed  of  no  one 
knows,  but  we  have  several  hun- 
dred under  withdrawal  which 
should  be  freed  from  withdrawal 
and  turned  into  use  just  as  quickly 
as  possible ;  for,  as  the  muscle  of 
man  or  horse  can  raise  a  few  bar- 
rels of  water  from  the  well  to  sup- 
ply stock  or  irrigate  the  garden 
patch,  so  can  the  power  of  the 
stream,  turned  into  electricity,  be 
used  to  raise  millions  of  barrels  of 
water  to  irrigate  alfalfa  farms  or 
orchards.  And  this  is  now  one  of 
the  most  common  uses  of  electric 
power  in  the  West,  and,  in  fact, 
some  of  the  Eastern  States,  where 
irrigation  is  found  of  value.  Then, 
too,  there  is  that  mystifying  miracle 
of  drawing  nitrogen  from  the  air 
for  chemical  use,  which  can  be  done 
only  with  great  power,  but  is  being 
done  in  Germany,  Norway,  Sweden, 
France,  Switzerland,  and  elsewhere, 
by  which  an  inexhaustible  substi- 
tute for  the  almost  exhausted 
nitrates  of  Chile  has  been  found. 
This  is  already  a  great  industry  in 
Europe,  and  will  of  necessity  be- 
come greater  in  the  United  States 
than  elsewhere,  because  of  our  size 
and  need  and  opportunity.  To  in- 
crease the  yield  of  our  farms  and 
to  give  us  an  independent  and  ade- 
quate supply  of  nitrogen  for  the  ex- 
plosives used  in  war,  we  must  set 
water  wheels  at  work. 

Two  resources  of  little  or  no  value 
alone,  but  together  constituting 
wealth,  we  have  in  abundance.  Land 
without  water  is  not  available  for 
agriculture;  water,  master  and  not 
servant,  destroys  property,  indus- 
try, wealth  and  lives. 


176 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Many  rivers,  great  potentially  as 
sources  of  irrigation,  in  periodical 
overflows  and  floods  do  incalculable 
damage.  When  we  have  conquered 
our  rivers  and  made  them  serve  by 
spreading  out  at  our  will,  not  theirs, 
over  the  land  we  wish  to  make  blos- 
som under  the  beneficent  influence 
of  irrigation,  we  will  have  added  to 
our  national  preparedness  a  factor 
the  value  of  which  cannot  be 
computed. 

No  one  can  take  the  yearly  toll 
of  lives  lost  and  property  destroyed 
by  the  furious  and  unrestrained 
sweep  of  our  rivers  without  realiz- 
ing that  the  people  of  this  country 
cannot  regard  themselves  as  owning 
this  land,  really  possessing  it,  until 
they  have  brought  these  waters  un- 
der subjection.  And  in  doing  this 
they  will  literally  create  new  land 
by  the  millions  of  acres,  land  that 
will  support  millions  of  people  as 
against  the  thousands  which  live 
upon  it  to-day. 

How  these  great  works  can  be 
carried  on  calls  for  constructive 
thought,  not  merely  on  the  engi- 
neering side,  but  more  immediately 
upon  the  financial  side  as  to  those 
ways  and  means  by  which  the  lands 
reclaimed  shall  be  made  to  bear  in 
some  degree  the  burden  of  the  ex- 
pense. As  to  the  funds  which  will 
be  needed,  they  mount  into  such 
figures  as  to  be  staggering.  And  I 
can  see  no  hope  that  this  work  will 
be  adequately  undertaken  without 
the  Government  advancing  its  credit 
and  investing  directly  some  of  its 
own  funds.  We  are  conducting  this 
Government  from  day  to  day  out  of 
current  revenues.  Only  the  richest 
of  people  could  pursue  such  a  pol- 
icy. No  private  enterprise  attempts 
it.  No  railroad  system  has  been 
built  that  way.  But  few  of  the 
States  now  construct  their  highway 
systems  out  of  the  year's  revenues. 


The  permanent  improvements  which 
the  whole  people  undertake  are  a 
legitimate  charge  against  capital  ac- 
count, not  against  maintenance.  A 
commission  to  devise  the  ways  and 
means  by  which  the  States  and  pri- 
vate land  owners  and  the  National 
Government  can  co-operate  in  pay- 
ing for  the  work  done  seems  to  me 
a  more  needed  body  than  one  which 
will  report  upon  engineering 
methods. 

There  are  other  sides  to  the  ques- 
tion upon  which  I  have  not  touched : 
the  conservation  and  development  of 
our  twenty-two  millions  of  children, 
the  men  and  women  of  to-morrow; 
the  proper  use  of  our  forest  reserves 
and  the  wise  enactment  and  admin- 
istration of  laws  regarding  timber 
as  well  as  minerals ;  the  commercial 
development  of  the  incredibly  rich 
territory  of  Alaska,  without  its  ex- 
ploitation for  the  benefit  of  the  few ; 
the  broad  visioned  development  of 
inland  waterways  and  rivers  for 
commerce;  the  problem  of  good 
roads,  which  the  automobile,  and 
especially  the  automobile  truck,  is 
gradually  working  out. 

But  enough  has  been  said  to  indi- 
cate that  no  country  in  the  world 
has  better  material  with  which  to 
work.  I  believe  that  conservation, 
in  its  broadest  term,  means  not  the 
mere  saving  of  a  resource  against 
the  possible  future  need,  but  making 
the  conserved  resource  as  widely 
useful  to  the  greatest  possible  num- 
ber in  the  shortest  possible  time 
consistent  with  the  elimination  of 
waste.  It  is  along  this  highway 
that  this  nation  must  move,  in  my 
judgment,  if  it  is  to  be  economically, 
commercially,  humanely  prepared 
for  any  future,  whether  of  peace  or 
war,  which  is  to  be  commensurate 
with  the  opportunities  nature  has 
given  us,  and  worthy  the  American 
character. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

THE  MINERAL  INDUSTRY  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


Compiled  from  Reports  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey 
By  A.  H.  FAY,  Mining  Engineer 


THE  magnitude  of  the  mineral 
industry  may  be  illustrated  by 
taking  into  consideration  the 
number  of  men  employed,  as  follows  : 
There  are  about  2,500  metal  mine 
operators,  employing  175,000  men  at 
the  mines  and  50,000  men  at  the 
metallurgical  plants ;  6,000  coal 
mines,  employing  734,000  men  at  the 
mines  and  31,000  at  coke  ovens. 
There  are  350,000  men  employed  in 
the  production  of  pig  iron  and  steel, 
100,000  men  employed  at  3,000  quar- 
ries, 76,000  men  employed  at  brick 
and  tile  works,  60,000  in  the  pottery 
and  clay  industry,  69,000  in  glass 
works  and  15,000  in  the  petroleum 
industry. 

Barring  the  production  in  1913, 
the  total  amount  of  minerals  pro- 
duced in  the  United  States  in  1915 
was  larger  than  in  any  previous 
year,  being  approximately  $2,373,- 
000,000,  or  a  gain  of  12  per  cent 
over  1914.  Of  the  total  amount  pro- 
duced, the  metallic  products  repre- 
sented $987,500,000  in  1915  and  $691,- 
000,000  in  1914,  an  increase  of  43 
per  cent.  There  was  a  slight  de- 
crease in  the  total  non-metallic 
products  in  1915,  as  compared  with 
1914,  the  figures  being  $1,423,000,000 
in  1914  and  $1,385,000,000  in  1915. 

CONTENTS 

The  mineral  industry  of  the  United 

States 
Precious  metals 

Gold,  silver,  platinum 


Base  metals 

Iron  and  iron  ore,   copper,  lead,   zinc, 

aluminium   and   chromic   iron   ore 
Miscellaneous  metallic  products 

Antimony,  bismuth,  manganese,  nickel, 
quicksilver,    radium,    scrap    metals, 
tin,  titanium,  tungsten,  uranium  and 
vanadium 
Fuels 

Coal,  petroleum,  natural  gas 
Non-metallic  products 

Barytes,  cement,  clay  and  clay  prod- 
ucts, fluorspar,  gypsum,  phosphate 
rock,  potash  ;  salt,  bromine  and  cal- 
cium chloride ;  sulphur  and  sul- 
phuric acid 

Miscellaneous  non-metallic  products 
Arsenic,  asbestos,  asphalt,  borax,  feld- 
spar, fuller's  earth,  garnet,  gems 
and  precious  stones,  graphite,  lime, 
magnesite,  mica,  mineral  paints, 
sand  and  gravel,  slate,  talc  and 
soapstone. 

Suarry  industry 
ine  accidents 

PRECIOUS   METALS 

Gold 

The  world's  production  of  gold  in 
1914  was  $460,000,000,  of  which  the 
United  States  produced  $94,531,800.  The 
United  States  production  in  1915  was 
about  $99,000,000.  Gold  is  produced  in 
twenty  States,  California,  Colorado, 
Alaska,  Nevada  and  South  Dakota  being 
the  largest  producers.  The  placer  mines 
produce  about  25  per  cent  and  the  dry 
or  silicious  ores  66  per  cent.  The  re- 
maining 9  per  cent  is  from  copper,  lead 
and  zinc  ores.  The  recent  high  prices 
of  copper,  lead  and  zinc  have  stimulated 
mining,  and  as  a  result  there  is  an 
increased  gold  production  from  this 
source. 

The   gold   dredging   industry   is   being 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


178 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


rapidly  extended  to  large  areas  of  low 
grade  sands  and  gravels  in  Alaska,  Cali- 
fornia, Montana,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Ore- 
gon and  Nevada.  In  1904  the  amount 
of  gold  produced  by  dredges  was  $2,600,- 
000,  while  in  1914  it  was  more  than 
$12,500,000.  Improved  metallurgical 
processes  have  resulted  in  obtaining  a 
recovery  of  more  than  90  per  cent  of 
the  gold  in  the  ore  and  made  possible 
the  profitable  mining  of  silicious  ores 
containing  less  than  $3  per  ton.  The 
average  amount  of  gold  recovered  per 
ton  of  ore  from  the  deep  mines  of  Alaska 
in  1914  was  $2.78 ;  from  California, 
$5.46,  and  from  South  Dakota,  $3.63. 
Any  invention  that  decreases  the  cost 
of  production  increases  the  amount  of 
ore  from  which  gold  may  be  recovered. 
It  has  the  same  effect  as  discovering 
new  deposits.  It  is  not  possible  to  give 
an  accurate  estimate  of  the  present  sup- 
ply of  gold  ores.  There  is  ample,  how- 
ever, for  many  decades.  One  mine  in 
Alaska  produces  6,000  tons  of  ore  per 
day  and  has  more  than  75,000,000  tons 
of  ore  reserves.  This  example  is  given 
to  show  the  magnitude  of  the  operations 
that  are  being  planned  and  carried  into 
actual  practice. 

The  exports  of  gold  during  the  calen- 
dar year  1914  were  $222,616,156,  while 
the  imports  were  $57,387,741. 

Silver 

The  silver  production  of  the  world  for 
1914  was  225,000,000  ounces,  of  which 
the  United  States  produced  one  third,  or' 
72,444,800  ounces,  valued  at  $40,000,- 
000.  The  production  of  silver  in  1915 
was  about  7  per  cent  less  than  in  1914. 
Three  fourths  of  the  world's  silver  pro- 
duction is  derived  from  North  America, 
14  per  cent  from  Europe  and  the  remain- 
der from  Australia  and  Asia.  The 
United  States  contains  vast  quantities 
of  low  grade  complex  ores  containing 
silver,  copper,  lead  and  zinc  that  are 
now  unworked  because  of  the  lack  of 
processes  by  which  the  metals  can  be 
recovered  at  a  profit.  Investigations  by 
Federal  bureaus  are  in  progress  to  deter- 
mine the  extent  of  these  ores  and  the 
possibility  of  developing  processes  for 
treating  them  profitably,  thus  making 
available  large  supplies  of  silver  ore. 
There  Is  every  reason  to  believe  that 


North  America  will  continue  to  retain 
its  position  as  the  largest  producer  of 
silver. 

There  are  twenty-five  States  that  pro- 
duce silver,  of  which  Nevada  ranks  first 
with  15,877,200  ounces  in  1914;  Idaho, 
12,573,800  ounces  ;  Montana,  12,536,700 
ounces ;  Utah,  11,722,000  ounces ;  Colo- 
rado, 8,804,400  ounces,  and  Arizona, 
4,439,500  ounces.  Other  States  produced 
the  remainder. 

The  exports  of  silver,  principally  to 
Europe,  China  and  India,  in  1914  were 
51,603,000  ounces,  while  the  imports 
were  25,959,187  ounces. 

Platinum 

The  principal  production  of  platinum 
in  the  United  States  is  from  California 
and  Oregon,  The  total  amount  produced 
in  1915  from  these  two  States  was 
741.91  troy  ounces,  valued  at  $23,538. 
This  is  an  increase  of  171.91  ounqes  over 
the  production  of  1914.  There  was  also 
produced  by  various  platinum  refineries 
8,666  ounces  of  metals  from  the  platinum 
group,  of  which  1,587  troy  ounces  is 
probably  of  domestic  origin. 

The  principal  source  of  platinum  is 
Russia,  which  produced  in  1914  241,200 
ounces  out  of  th6  world's  production  of 
260,548  ounces.  The  production  reported 
for  Russia  in  1915  was  124,000  ounces, 
while  the  world's  production  is  esti- 
mated at  143,898  ounces.  The  imports 
for  1915  were  about  10  per  cent  lower 
than  in  1914  and  amounted  to  69,000 
ounces,  valued  at  $2,768,688. 

The  United  States  Geological  Survey 
and  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Mines  are  co- 
operating in  a  general  study  of  placer 
deposits  in  the  United  States  with  the 
view  of  devising  methods  whereby  plat- 
inum may  be  recovered  from  the  black 
sands,  which  contain  appreciable  quan- 
tities of  this  valuable  metal.  Some  of 
the  gold  and  copper  ores  contain  plat- 
inum in  such  minute  quantities  that  it 
is  rarely  detected  in  ordinary  assaying. 
The  bullion  obtained  from  these  ores 
contains  sufficient  platinum  to  make  its 
recovery  an  important  by-product  at 
gold  and  copper  refineries.  Until  impor- 
tant sources  of  supply  are  discovered  in 
the  United  States  this  country  must  de- 
pend upon  Russia  for  its  needs. 


THE  MINERAL   INDUSTRY 


179 


WORLD'S  GOLD  PRODUCTION 


WORLD'S  SILVER  PRODUCTION 


180 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


BASE    METALS 

Iron  Ore  and  Iron 

The  production  of  iron  ore  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  was  55,526,490 
gross  tons,  or  about  14,000,000  tons 
greater  than  in  1914,  and  valued  at 
$1.85  per  ton.  With  the  exception  of 
the  years  1910  and  1913  this  is  the 
largest  production.  Of  the  total  amount 
produced,  the  Lake  Superior  region,  in- 
cluding Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota, produced  85  per  cent,  and  the 
Birmingham  district,  Alabama,  8.5  per 
cent. 

Comparatively  little  iron  ore  is  im- 
ported into  the  United  States  (1,350,500 
tons  in  1914),  the  total  being  about  2 
per  cent  of  the  quantity  mined  each 
year.  The  imports  come  mostly  from 
Cuba,  Sweden,  Canada,  Newfoundland, 
Spain  and  Chile.  The  exports  of  iron 
ore  from  the  United  States  (551,618 
tons  in  1914)  nearly  offset  the  imports, 
so  that  the  United  States  is  self-sus- 
taining as  far  as  its  production  of  iron 
is  concerned.  In  the  production  of  iron 
ore  the  United  States  ranks  first,  Ger- 
many second,  France  third,  Great  Britain 
fourth  and  Spain  fifth. 

The  iron  ore  supply  of  the  United 
States  of  commercial  grade  as  mined 
at  present  is  7,500,000,000  tons,  one 
third  of  which  is  in  the  Lake  Superior 
district.  While  this  amount  seems  enor- 
mous, yet  at  the  present  rate  of  pro- 
duction it  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  the 
time  when  this  quantity  will  be  ex- 
hausted. There  are,  however,  important 
factors  which  bear  upon  the  prolonga- 
tion of  the  ore  reserves.  Among  these 
are  the  development  of  metallurgical 
processes  whereby  lower  grade  ores  may 
be  utilized ;  improved  mining  methods, 
which  will  reduce  waste ;  the  discovery 
of  new  ore  deposits  ;  the  importation  of 
iron  ore  from  Latin-America  and  the 
utilization  of  titaniferous  iron  ores. 

The  production  of  pig  iron,  including 
its  various  alloys,  in  1915  was  29,916,- 
213  gross  tons,  as  compared  with  23,- 
332,244  gross  tons  in  1914.  The  average 
value  at  the  furnace,  in  1915,  was  $13.21 
per  ton. 

In  the  production  of  pig  iron  the 
United  States  ranks  first,  followed  in 


order  by  Germany,  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Russia.  The  world's  production  in 
1913  was  78,026,869  long  tons,  while 
in  1914  it  was  approximately  64,000,000 
tons. 

The  imports  of  pig  iron  (138,903  tons 
in  1914)  and  the  exports  (114,423  tons 
in  1914)  almost  balance  each  other. 

Copper 

The  production  of  copper  in  1915  was 
1,388,009,527  pounds  as  compared  with 
1,150,137,192  pounds  in  1914,  or  an  in- 
crease of  21  per  cent.  The  increase 
since  1880  has  been  25-fold.  Arizona, 
the  largest  producer  of  copper,  leads 
with  432,467,690  pounds,  followed  next 
in  order  in  1915  by  Montana,  Michigan, 
Utah,  Alaska,  Nevada,  New  Mexico  and 
California.  The  output  in  1915  repre- 
sents about  60  per  cent  of  the  world's 
production.  Europe  produces  13  per 
cent,  Canada  and  Mexico  8  per  cent, 
South  America  and  Cuba  7  per  cent,  and 
all  other  countries  12  per  cent. 

The  average  price  of  copper  for  the 
year  1915  was  17.5  cents  per  pound,  as 
compared  with  13.3  cents  in  1914.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  year  the  price  was 
relatively  low,  but  started  to  advance 
until  a  maximum  of  20  cents  a  pound 
was  reached  during  the  middle  of  the 
year. 

The  apparent  consumption  of  copper 
in  the  United  States  in  1915  was  1,043,- 
461,982  pounds,  as  compared  with  620,- 
445,373  pounds  in  1914.  The  exports  of 
copper  bars,  pigs,  ingots,  plates  and 
sheets  during  1915  amounted  to  681,- 
953,301  pounds,  as  compared  with  840,- 
080,922  pounds  for  1914. 

The  advent  of  the  steam  shovel  and 
the  introduction  of  improved  mining 
methods  and  metallurgical  processes 
have  so  lowered  the  cost  of  production 
that  ores  yielding  only  1.60  per  cent 
copper  are  now  worked  at  a  profit.  Such 
ore  even  ten  years  ago  would  have  been 
considered  as  waste  material.  Leaching 
processes  have  been  installed  by  a  num- 
ber of  companies  and  the  results  ob- 
tained indicate  that  even  lower  grade 
ores  may  be  worked.  These  improved 
processes  are  a  tremendous  factor  in 
extending  the  life  of  the  available  sup- 
plies of  copper  ores. 


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182 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Lead 

The  production  of  refined  lead  in  1915 
was  550,055  short  tons,  as  compared 
with  542,122  tons  in  1914.  The  value 
of  the  lead  production  in  1915  was  $51,- 
705,000,  as.  compared  with  $42,286,000 
in  1914.  The  increase  in  the  production 
amounted  to  1.3  per  cent,  while  the 
value  of  the  lead  produced  increased 
22.3  per  cent.  Missouri  leads  in  the 
production  of  lead  with  195,634  tons, 
followed  by  Idaho  with  160,680  tons. 
The  next  in  order  of  production  is  Utah 
with  106,105  tons,  followed  by  Colorado 
with  32,352  tons.  The  other  States  pro- 
duced small  amounts  varying  from  a 
few  tons  to  4,000  or  5,000  tons.  The 
imports  of  lead  for  1915  amounted  to 
51,496  tons,  as  compared  with  28,338 
tons  in  1914.  The  price  of  lead  at  the 
beginning  of  1915  was  3.08  cents  per 
pound,  while  at  the  close  of  the  year 
it  was  5.40  cents.  The  average  New 
York  price  was  4.7  cents  per  pound,  as 
compared  with  3.9  cents  in  1914. 

Under  ordinary  commercial  condi- 
tions, about  40  per  cent  of  the  lead  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead, 
15  per  cent  for  pipes,  7  per  cent  for 
sheets,  10  per  cent  for  shot  and  the 
remainder  for  exports  and  other 
purposes. 

The  normal  exports  of  lead  about 
equal  the  lead  produced  from  foreign 
ores.  However,  the  exports  of  domestic 
lead  in  1914  were  58,722  short  tons  and 
87,092  tons  in  1915,  while  no  domestic 
lead  was  exported  in  1913. 

Lead  ores  are  mined  in  twenty-two 
States  and  the  deposits  are  sufficiently 
large  that  the  United  States  occupies 
the  enviable  position  of  having  enough 
lead  to  meet  all  demands. 

Zinc 

The  world's  production  of  zinc  is 
slightly  over  1,000,000  tons  per  year,  of 
which  in  1915  the  United  States  pro- 
duced 489,519  short  tons,  as  compared 
with  353,049  tons  in  1914,  representing 
an  increase  in  domestic  production  of  39 
per  cent.  The  value  of  the  spelter  pro- 
duced during  1915  was  $121,401,000,  as 
compared  with  $36,011,000  in  1914,  rep- 
resenting an  increase  of  237  per  cent. 
The  exports  of  domestic  spelter  for  1915 
amounted  to  117,796  tons,  as  compared 


with  64,807  tons  in  1914  and  7,783  tons 
in  1913.  Illinois,  Kansas  and  Oklahoma 
are  the  principal  States  in  which  zinc 
smelting  is  carried  on,  the  amount 
smelted  in  each  State  in  1915  being  as 
follows :  Illinois,  159,958  tons ;  Kansas, 
100,983  tons;  Oklahoma,  109,208  tons; 
with  118,930  tons  apportioned  among 
the  other  States  not  enumerated.  Many 
of  the  smelter  plants  were  increased  in 
size  during  the  year,  while  a  number  of 
new  smelters  were  constructed.  The 
number  of  retorts  in  operation  at  the 
beginning  of  1915  was  113,914,  while  at 
the  end  of  the  year  they  had  been  in- 
creased to  154,898. 

The  price  of  spelter  in  January,  1915, 
at  St.  Louis  was  5.5  cents  per  pound, 
while  in  June,  1915,  it  had  reached  the 
phenomenal  price  of  26.5  cents  per 
pound.  The  average  price  for  prime 
Western  spelter  at  St.  Louis  was  14.2 
cents  per  pound. 

Ores  of  zinc  are  widely  distributed  in 
commercial  quantities  in  nineteen  States. 
Missouri  is  the  largest  producer,  lead- 
ing with  about  40  per  cent.  Montana  is 
second,  while  large  shipments  originate 
in  Colorado,  Wisconsin,  New  Jersey  and 
Tennessee.  The  supplies  of  ore  are  ample 
for  all  domestic  needs. 

There  are  large  losses  in  the  present 
mining  and  metallurgical  methods ;  in 
fact,  in  most  cases  not  over  50  per  cent 
of  the  zinc  in  the  ore  is  marketed  as 
spelter,  the  remainder  being  lost  in  the 
various  stages  from  mine  to  smelter. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  zinc  is  used 
for  galvanizing  iron  and  in  the  manu- 
facture of  brass.  About  20,000  tons  of 
zinc  oxide  is  used  each  year  as  filler  for 
automobile  tires,  while  40,000  tons  find 
a  market  in  the  paint  industry. 

Aluminium 

The  production  of  bauxite,  the  raw 
material  from  which  aluminium  is  made, 
was  297,041  long  tons  in  1915,  valued 
at  $1,514,834,  an  increase  of  35  per 
cent  in  quantity  and  41  per  cent  in  value 
compared  with  1914.  Arkansas  pro- 
duced about  90  per  cent  of  the  domestic 
bauxite,  while  Georgia,  Alabama  and 
Tennessee  contributed  the  remainder. 

The  consumption  of  aluminium  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  amounted  to  99,- 
806,000  pounds.  The  demand  exceeded 


THE  MINERAL  INDUSTRY 


183 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  IRON 


WORLD'S  COAL  PRODUCTION 


184 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


the  supply,  which,  together  with  the 
curtailment  of  imports,  caused  the  price 
to  be  much  higher  than  in  former  years. 
About  sixty  years  ago  aluminium  was 
considered  a  chemical  curiosity,  valued 
at  $90  per  pound.  The  total  amount 
produced  in  1883  was  83  pounds.  In 
1889  the  total  production  in  the  United 
States  was  75  pounds  per  day,  valued 
at  $4.50  per  pound.  In  1914  aluminium 
was  available  in  large  quantities  at  19 
to  22  cents  a  pound,  but  with  the  in- 
creased demand  due  to  unsettled  con- 
ditions in  1915  the  price  rose  from  19 
cents  in  January  to  57.75  cents  per 
pound  in  November. 

The  increase  in  the  consumption  of 
metallic  aluminium  has  largely  been  due 
to  its  lightness.  The  specific  gravity  of 
aluminium  is  2.7,  whereas  brass  is  3 
times  as  great,  steel  2.8  times  and  cop- 
per 3.3  times.  Aluminium  also  resists 
the  action  of  acids  and  is  an  important 
metal  in  the  manufacture  of  high  ex- 
plosives, sulphuric  and  nitric  acids. 

Aluminium  has  no  substitute,  but  it 
is  available  as  a  substitute  for  copper 
as  a  conductor  of  electricity.  The  manu- 
facture of  aluminium  is  an  expensive 
process,  inasmuch  as  it  requires  large 
electrical  installations.  An  abundance 
of  cheap  water  power  is  one  of  the  pre- 
requisites for  the  successful  production 
of  this  valuable  metal.  The  deposits  of 
bauxite  are  far  from  being  exhausted, 
while  all  clays  contain  from  10  to  40  per 
cent  of  aluminium  oxide,  which  may  be 
recovered  by  methods  yet  to  be  dis- 
covered. 

Chromic  Iron  Ore 

The  production  of  chromic  iron  ore  in 
the  United  States  in  1915  amounted  to 
3,281  long  tons,  valued  at  $36,744,  as 
compared  with  591  long  tons,  valued  at 
$8,715,  in  1914.  The  domestic  demand 
for  chromic  iron  ore  increased  largely 
as  a  result  of  conditions  abroad,  whereby 
it  was  impossible  to  import  this  class  of 
ore.  California  is  the  largest  producer, 
while  a  small  amount  has  been  mined 
near  Grant's  Pass,  Ore. 

The  average  production  of  chromic 
iron  ore  from  1901  to  1913,  inclusive, 
was  only  250  tons,  while  the  imports 
during  the  same  period  averaged  39,000 
tons  per  year,  mainly  from  Rhodesia 


and  Turkey.  The  principal  foreign  de- 
posits are  in  Rhodesia,  New  Caledonia, 
Russia  and  Turkey. 

Chromium  finds  its  principal  use  in 
the  manufacture  of  high  grade  tool  steel. 
Tool  steel  containing  small  amounts  of 
tungsten  and  chromium  surpasses  any 
other  known  alloy  as  an  efficient  agent 
in  machine  shop  practice. 

Miscellaneous  Metallic  Products 

Antimony. — The  production  of  anti- 
mony ores  in  the  United  States  in  1915 
was  5,000  tons,  containing  2,000  tons 
of  antimony,  valued  at  $325,000.  The 
price  of  antimony  in  1915  was  the  high- 
est known  since  the  metal  became  a 
regular  article  of  commerce.  The  aver- 
age monthly  price  for  1914  was  between 
5.44  cents  and  7.11  cents  per  pound. 
The  price  of  antimony  rose  rapidly  in 
1915  until  it  reached  40  cents  per  pound. 

Bismuth. — Bismuth  is  saved  as  a  by- 
product in  the  electrolytic  refining  of 
lead.  The  production  in  1914  was  220,- 
000  pounds,  valued  at  $426,000.  The 
imports  for  1914  were  valued  at  $165,- 
208.  The  price  of  bismuth  in  1915 
varied  from  $2.75  to  $4  per  pound. 

Manganese. — Only  a  small  amount  of 
manganese  ore  was  mined  in  1914  in 
the  United  States,  2,635  long  tons,  val- 
ued at  $27,377.  The  average  price  at 
the  mine  was  $10.37  per  ton.  The  im- 
ports of  manganese  ore  amounted  to 
283,294  tons,  valued  at  $2,024,120.  In 
addition  to  the  manganese  ore  there  was 
mined  iron  ore  containing  manganese  to 
the  amount  of  98,265  long  tons,  valued 
at  $218,497. 

Nickel. — The  amount  of  metallic  nickel 
and  nickel  salts  recovered  from  smelting 
plants  in  the  United  States  in  1914  was 
845,334  pounds,  valued  at  $313,000. 
Practically  all  of  this  was  saved  as  a 
by-product  in  the  electric  refining  of 
copper.  The  imports  of  nickel  amounted 
to  $5,028,818  in  1914.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, nickeliferous  ores  are  not  mined  in 
the  United  States. 

Quicksilver. — The  production  of  quick- 
silver in  1915  was  20,681  flasks,  as  com- 
pared with  16,548  flasks  in  1914.  The 
larger  part  of  this  production  is  from 
California  and  Texas.  The  normal  price 
of  quicksilver  in  1914  was  $38  per  flask. 
The  average  price  for  1915  was  $87  per 
flask. 

Radium. — The  production  of  radium  in 
1915  was  6  grammes,  as  compared  with 
22.3  grammes  in  1914.  The  United 
States  has  the  largest  known  radium 
deposits  in  the  world,  but  the  principal 
market  for  radium  is  in  Europe  and  on 
account  of  the  war  the  demand  ceased 
and  hence  the  production  was  curtailed. 
Radium  occurs  in  minute  quantities  in 
pitchblende  and  carnotite.  Radium  as 
metal  has  been  isolated  but  few  times. 
It  is  ordinarily  recovered  as  a  hydrous 
sulphate,  chloride  or  bromide.  Its  prin- 


li 


Photographs  from  U.  S.  Geological  Survey 

Some  California  Wells 
Some  Beaumont,  Texas,  Wells 

OIL  WELLS 


OF 


Hafney's  Gas  Well  in  Winter 
Oil  Derricks,  Beaumont,  Texas 
THE  WEST 


186 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


cipal  use  is  in  medicine  as  a  remedy  for 
cancer. 

Scrap  Metals. — The  amount  of  second- 
ary metals  recovered  from  scrap,  sweep- 
ings, etc.,  in  1915,  was  $114,304,930. 

Tin. — Only  a  small  amount  of  tin  ore 
(155  short  tons  in  1914)  is  produced  in 
the  United  States.  The  majority  of  this 
production  is  from  Alaska  and  contains 
about  60  per  cent  metallic  tin. 

Titanium. — The  production  of  titanium 
ore  (rutile  and  ilmenite)  in  the  United 
States  for  1915  was  250  tons,  valued  at 
$25,000  and  $30,000.  Rutile  and  ilmenite 
are  used  in  the  manufacture  of  ferro- 
titanium,  employed  in  making  steel  and 
cast  iron. 

Tungsten. — The  production  of  tung- 
sten in  the  United  States  in  1915  was 
the  largest  on  record,  being  about  2,165 
short  tons,  containing  60  per  cent  of 
tungsten  trioxide,  valued  at  slightly  more 
than  $2,000,000.  The  production  dur- 
ing the  first  six  months  of  1916  was  in 
excess  of  3,000  tons.  The  price  of  tung- 
sten ore  the  latter  part  of  1914  was  $9 
per  unit.  In  the  fall  of  1915  the  price 
had  advanced  to  $48  per  unit.  The  price 
of  metallic  tungsten  rose  from  $1  a 
pound  early  in  the  year  to  $8  a  pound 
in  December.  The  principal  sources  of 
production  are  California,  Colorado  and 
Arizona.  Its  principal  use  is  in  the 
manufacture  of  tungsten  high  speed  tool 
steels. 

Uranium  and  Vanadium. — The  carno- 
tite  ores  produced  23.4  tons  of  uranium 
oxide  and  635  tons  of  vanadium  oxide 
in  1915,  as  compared  with  87.2  tons  of 
uranium  in  1914  and  435  tons  of  vana- 
dium in  1914. 

FUELS 
Coal 

The  production  of  coal  in  the  United 
States  in  1915  amounted  to  531,619,487 
short  tons,  an  increase  of  3.5  per  cent 
over  the  amount  produced  in  1914.  Of 
the  total  production  442,624,426  short 
tons,  valued  at  $502,037,688,  was  bitu- 
minous coal  and  lignite,  and  88,995,061 
short  tons,  valued  at  $184,653,498,  was 
Pennsylvania  anthracite.  Pennsylvania 
ranks  first  as  a  coal  producing  State, 
followed  by  West  Virginia,  Illinois,  Ohio 
and  Kentucky. 

The  total  number  of  men  employed  in 
the  coal  mining  industry  in  1915  was 
734,008,  employed  on  an  average  209 
days. 

The  United  States  ranks  first  in  the 
world's  production  of  coal,  followed  by 
Great  Britain  ranking  second,  with  Ger- 
many third.  Much  of  the  mining  in  the 
last  fifty  years  has  been  carelessly  done 
a.nd  enormous  quantities  of  coal  have 


been  left  in  the  ground  and  in  such 
condition  that  it  is  doubtful  whether 
it  may  ever  be  recovered.  During  each 
year  for  every  500,000,000  tons  produced 
there  is  wasted  or  left  underground  at 
least  250,000,000  tons,  thus  representing 
an  average  recovery  of  only  66  per  cent. 
Under  the  best  current  practice  with  im- 
proved mining  methods  many  of  the 
mines  are  now  recovering  85  to  90  per 
cent.  Of  the  total  amount  of  energy 
in  coal  not  over  11  per  cent  is  effectively 
utilized. 

The  available  coal  supplies  of  the 
United  States  are  estimated  as  4,231,- 
352,000,000  short  tons,  and  represent 
about  51  per  cent  of  the  known  deposits 
of  the  world.  Estimates  have  been  made, 
varying  from  100  to  4,000  years,  as  to 
when  our  coal  supplies  will  become  ex- 
hausted, but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  im- 
proved mining  methods  and  more  efficient 
utilization  of  the  heat  units  in  the  coal 
will  do  much  toward  extending  the 
period  of  depletion  until  some  other 
source  of  heat  and  energy  will  be  found. 

Coke. — About  two  thirds  of  our  coke 
is  made  by  the  bee  hive  process,  which 
wastes  enormous  quantities  of  gas,  tar, 
ammonia,  benzol  and  other  products. 
The  installation  of  by-product  ovens  has 
increased  rapidly  and  is  turning  into 
profits  and  dividends  large  quantities 
of  the  by-products  wasted  in  the  bee  hive 
process.  The  recovery  of  the  coal  by- 
products places  at  the  disposal  of  chem- 
ists and  manufacturers  a  quantity  of 
material  from  which  dyes  and  explosives 
may  be  manufactured. 

The  production  of  coke  in  the  United 
States  in  1915  was  41,581,150  short 
tons,  an  increase  of  7,025,236  tons  (20 
per  cent)  as  compared  with  1914.  The 
number  of  bee  hive  ovens  in  -operation 
in  1915  was  48,766  and  the  number  of 
by-product  ovens  was  6,346.  There  were 
a  large  number  of  by-product  ovens 
brought  into  use  and  all  ovens  were 
operated  nearer  full  capacity  (303  days) 
than  in  the  previous  year  (286  days). 
The  number  of  men  employed  at  coke 
ovens  in  1915  was  31,060. 

Coke  Oven  By-products. — The  value  of 
coke  oven  by-products  was  $29,824,579 
in  1915,  as  compared  with  $17,500,000 
in  1914.  The  increase  in  benzol  products 


188 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


was  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the 
year  in  the  coke  industry.  The  value 
of  this  product  rose  from  less  than 
$1,000,000  in  1914  to  more  than  $7,760,- 
000  in  1915.  In  1914  there  were  four- 
teen benzol  plants,  controlled  by  one 
company.  In  1915  sixteen  additional 
coke  plants  were  equipped  with  benzol 
apparatus.  The  benzol  products,  includ- 
ing toluol,  in  1915  amounted  to  16,600,- 
657  gallons.  The  amount  of  toluol  pro 
duced  in  1915  was  623,506  gallons,  val- 
ued at  $2.45  per  gallon.  The  amount 
of  tar  obtained  from  coke  ovens  in  1915 
was  138,414,601  gallons,  valued  at 
$3,568,384.  The  total  value  of  ammo- 
nia obtained  and  sold  was  $9,867,475. 

Petroleum 

The  total  quantity  of  crude  petroleum 
placed  on  the  world's  market  in  1915 
amounted  to  426,892,673  barrels,  or  7 
per  cent  more  than  in  1914,  making  the 
production  in  1915  the  greatest  on  rec- 
ord. Of  the  total  amount  produced,  the 
United  States  leads  with  281,104,104 
barrels,  or  65.85  per  cent  of  the  world's 
production.  Russia  follows  with  16.06 
per  cent,  with  Mexico  third  with  7.71 
per  cent. 

Petroleum  was  first  produced  in  this 
country  commercially  in  1859.  The  im- 
ports of  petroleum  and  petroleum  prod- 
ucts for  consumption  in  the  United 
States  were  practically  negligible  until 
1911.  The  total  value  of  crude  petrol- 
eum products  and  ozokerite  imported 
for  consumption  in  the  United  States 
in  1914  was  $12,300,000,  of  which 
17,200,000  barrels  was  crude  petroleum 
from  Mexico,  valued  at  $11,500,000,  or 
93  per  cent  of  all  imported  petroleum 
products.  The  total  exports  of  crude 
petroleum  and  liquid  products  of  petrol- 
eum amounted  in  1914  to  53,334,134 
barrels,  valued  at  $140,000,000. 

The  growth  of  the  petroleum  industry 
in  the  United  States  has  been  rapid  and 
has  resulted  in  the  invention  of  new 
processes  and  devices  whereby  it  has 
been  possible  to  increase  the  quantity 
and  reduce  the  price  of  many  of  the 
petroleum  by-products.  The  Bureau  of 
Mines  has  been  instrumental  in  the  de- 
velopment of  processes  whereby  the  pro- 
duction of  gasoline  from  crude  oil  may 


be  almost  doubled,  and  the  same  bureau 
is  also  devising  methods  for  the  preven- 
tion of  waste  in  drilling  for  petroleum 
and  its  storage  in  tanks. 

At  the  present  rate  of  consumption  of 
250,000,000  barrels  per  year,  the  now 
available  supplies  will  be  practically  ex- 
hausted within  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
However,  the  increasing  price  of  petrol- 
eum, more  efficient  utilization  and  the 
prevention  of  such  large  waste  as  is 
now  noticeable  will  tend  to  prolong  the 
life  of  the  fields  many  years  beyond  the 
above  estimate.  Oil  shale  deposits  in 
Colorado  and  Utah  furnish  10  to  60  gal- 
lons per  ton  of  rock  and  may  become  an 
important  source  of  petroleum  as  the 
present  supplies  become  depleted. 

Natural  Gas 

The  production  of  natural  gas  in  1914 
was  about  592,000,000,000  cubic  feet, 
valued  at  more  than  $94,000,000.  In 
1885  the  value  of  natural  gas  utilized 
in  the  United  States  was  $4,857,000. 
Of  all  of  the  fuels  produced  in  the 
United  States  probably  the  greatest 
waste  and  loss  is  in  natural  gas.  As  a 
fuel  it  is  easy  to  handle  ;  is  clean,  and 
where  available  is  replacing  all  other 
fuels.  The  waste  in  its  use,  however, 
has  been  excessive,  while  the  waste  in 
its  production  is  even  still  greater.  It 
is  estimated  that  in  one  State  alone 
more  than  250,000,000  cubic  feet  of  gas 
is  wasted  daily,  while  in  another  field 
at  least  400,000,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  is 
turned  into  the  atmosphere  each  day. 
Investigations  by  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey  and  the  Bureau  of  Mines  are 
being  conducted  for  the  conservation  of 
this  valuable  fuel  both  in  its  production 
and  in  its  method  of  use. 

NON-METALLIC    PRODUCTS 

Barytes 

The  production  of  barytes  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  was  108,547  short 
tons,  valued  at  $381,032,  as  compared 
with  1914,  when  the  production  was 
52,747  short  tons,  valued  at  $155,647. 
The  increased  production  in  1915  was 
largely  due  to  imports  from  Germany 
being  cut  off.  The  principal  States  pro- 
ducing barytes  follow  in  order  of  pro- 
duction: Missouri,  Georgia,  Tennessee 


F 
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190 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


and  Kentucky.  The  deposits  in  these 
States  are  sufficient  for  domestic  needs. 
The  mineral,  however,  is  not  as  pure 
as  the  imported  product,  so  that  the  best 
utilization  of  these  deposits  will  result 
from  improved  methods  of  bleaching  and 
purifying  the  raw  material. 
Cement 

In  1880  there  were  produced  in  the 
United  States  85,000  barrels  of  Portland 
cement,  while  in  1915  the  production 
was  86,891,681  barrels,  valued  at  $74,- 
756,674.  The  average  price  at  the  fac- 
tory has  decreased  from  $3  per  barrel 
in  1880  to  86  cents  per  barrel  in  1915. 
The  wonderful  development  of  the  cement 
industry  in  the  United  States  dates  from 
the  introduction  of  the  rotary  kiln  fired 
with  powdered  coal  in  1895.  The  United 
States  imports  comparatively  little 
hydraulic  cement,  amounting  to  less  than 
100,000  barrels  a  year.  Twenty  years 
ago  the  imports  of  cement  were  more 
than  33  per  cent  of  the  domestic  product, 
whereas  in  recent  years  they  are  less  than 
0.1  per  cent.  There  is  little  or  no  need 
to  import  any  ordinary  cement,  for  all 
parts  of  the  country  are  well  supplied 
with  the  raw  material  and  are  not  de- 
pendent upon  any  foreign  source.  The 
annual  exports  of  hydraulic  cement 
slightly  exceed  4,000,000  barrels,  or 
nearly  5  per  cent  of  the  production. 
Clay  and  Clay  Products 

Clay. — The  United  States  possesses 
immense  quantities  of  clay,  which  are 
both  suitable  and  available  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  clay  products.  In  1914  the 
production  of  raw  clay  (not  included  in 
the  pottery  or  brick  and  tile  business) 
in  the  United  States  was  valued  at 
$3,756,568.  The  closing  of  imports  of 
clay  from  Europe  on  account  of  the  war 
has  resulted  in  an  increased  demand  for 
high  grade  fire  clay  to  replace  the  im- 
ported material.  While  many  of  the 
American  clays  contain  a  small  percent- 
age of  iron,  a  process  of  eliminating  the 
excess  iron  has  been  devised  and  suc- 
cessfully used  in  making  some  of  the 
undeveloped  clays  available  for  higher 
uses.  The  great  achievements  of  the 
clay  working  industries  in  the  last  half 
century  are  due  to  the  use  of  American- 
made  machines ;  the  establishment  of 


ceramic  schools ;  the  advertising  cam- 
paigns carried  on  by  the  manufacturers 
of  clay  products,  and  the  improvement 
in  the  quality  of  wares. 

Pottery  Products. — The  value  of  the 
pottery  products  produced  in  the  United 
States  in  1915  was  $37,289,456,  as  com- 
pared with  $35,398,161  in  1914,  an  in- 
crease of  5  per  cent.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  white  china,  all  of  the  pottery 
products  increased  in  value  in  1915  as 
compared  with  the  previous  year. 

Ohio  is  the  leading  pottery  State,  its 
principal  product  being  white  ware,  the 
output  of  which  in  1915  was  valued  at 
$10,184,834,  or  nearly  two  thirds  of  the 
State's  production,  which  was  $15,894,- 
597,  or  almost  one  half  the  total  white 
ware  production  of  the  United  States. 
New  Jersey  ranks  second  in  the  value 
of  pottery  products,  West  Virginia  third, 
New  York  fourth,  Indiana  fifth  and 
Pennsylvania  sixth. 

The  value  of  the  imports  of  pottery 
was  $6,628,086,  or  $1,770,507  less  than 
in  1914.  The  decrease  in  the  imports 
was  largely  due  to  commercial  condi- 
tions in  Europe.  The  exports  from  do- 
mestic production  amounted  to  $563,452 
and  re-exports  from  foreign  imports 
$94,705. 

Brick  and  Tile. — The  brick  and  tile 
industry  forms  about  78  per  cent  of  the 
clay  products  and  in  1914  amounted  to 
$129,588,822,  as  compared  with  $143,- 
296,757  in  1913.  Ohio,  as  in  the  pot- 
tery business,  leads  in  this  industry  with 
$21,815,392,  followed  by  $20,100,495  for 
Pennsylvania.  Other  important  States 
in  order  of  production  are  Illinois,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Missouri  and  Cali- 
fornia. 

Fluorspar 

The  production  of  fluorspar  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  was  the  largest  on 
record  with  a  total  of  136,941  short 
tons,  valued  at  $764,475.  In  1883  the 
production  was  only  4,000  tons.  In 
1915  there  were  imported  into  the  United 
States  7,167  tons,  valued  at  $22,878, 
compared  with  10,205  short  tons,  valued 
at  $38,943,  in  1914.  The  principal  im- 
ports are  from  England.  The  increased 
production  of  fluorspar  in  1915  was 
taken  care  of  by  the  great  demand  for 
its  use  in  the  manufacture  of  steel. 


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192 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


The  American  deposits  occur  in  Illi- 
nois, Kentucky,  New  Mexico,  Colorado, 
New  Hampshire  and  Arizona,  and  are 
ample  to  supply  domestic  requirements 
in  case  of  emergency.  The  American 
product  is  of  much  higher  grade  than 
the  imported  material.  There  is  need 
for  an  improvement  in  mining  methods 
and  processes  for  its  preparation  for 
market. 

Gypsum 

The  amount  of  gypsum  produced  in 
the  United  States  in  1915  was  2,447,611 
short  tons,  valued  at  $6,596,893.  Prac- 
tically one  fourth  of  this  production  is 
from  New  York,  with  Iowa,  Michigan 
and  Ohio  following  next  in  order.  The 
gypsum  beds  in  these  States  are  large, 
while  many  of  the  Western  States  con- 
tain immense  beds  that  have  not  been 
worked.  There  were  77  active  quarries 
and  69  calcining  plants  in  operation  in 
1915. 

Phosphate  Rock 

The  production  of  phosphate  rock  in 
the  United  States  in  1915  amounted  to 
1,835,667  long  tons,  valued  at  $5,413,- 
444.  The  1915  production  showed  a  de- 
crease of  898,376  long  tons  as  compared 
with  the  production  in  1914.  The  de- 
creased production  was  the  result  of 
conditions  in  Europe,  whereby  exports 
were  not  as  large  as  in  previous  years. 
Shipments  to  Germany,  which  hitherto 
has  been  a  large  consumer,  have  prac- 
tically ceased.  As  a  result  mining  oper- 
ations were  either  curtailed  or  suspended 
entirely.  The  principal  States  producing 
phosphate  rock  are  Florida,  Tenn'essee 
and  South  Carolina. 

While  the  progress  toward  more  effi- 
cient mining  and  milling  methods  has 
been  great  in  recent  years,  yet  the  waste 
is  much  greater  than  it  should  be.  The 
phosphate  deposits  are  large  in  the 
South  Atlantic  States  and  in  the  far 
West,  especially  Idaho,  Utah,  Wyoming 
and  Montana.  They  are  in  close  prox- 
imity to  smelting  centers  where  there 
is  an  abundance  of  raw  material  for  the 
manufacture  of  sulphuric  acid,  which  is 
so  essential  in  converting  the  insoluble 
rock  to  a  soluble  salt.  Phosphate  rock 
finds  its  principal  use  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  fertilizer  and  for  this  reason  it 


is  of  vital  importance  to  everybody.  It 
has  no  mineral  substitute,  hence  the  de- 
posits should  be  conserved  by  their 
efficient  utilization. 

Potash 

The  production  of  potash  salts  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  was  valued  at 
$342,000,  which,  while  small,  indicates 
the  possibility  of  establishing  a  domes- 
tic potash  industry.  The  imports  of 
refined  potash  salts  in  1915  amounted 
to  170,555,450  pounds,  valued  at  $3,765,- 
224,  or  slightly  more  than  25  per  cent 
of  those  in  1913.  Taking  all  potash 
salts  together,  the  quantity  imported  in 
1915  was  about  one  tenth  of  that  under 


55,000    BARREL    OIL    TANK    STRUCK   BY 
LIGHTNING   AT   TULSA,    OKLA, 

normal  conditions,  when  the  total  Im- 
ports amount  to  about  $15,000,000  annu- 
ally. The  imports  of  potash  salts  are 
almost  exclusively  from  Germany.  Ex- 
perimental work  on  potash  salts  from 
different  sources  was  active  during  the 
year  and  Government  bureaus  are  using 
every  effort  to  discover  new  sources  of 
these  valuable  salts  and  methods  for 
their  production.  The  following  possible 
sources  are  being  investigated:  (a) 


for    Determining    fhe    Heating    ftuahty    of    Coal 
INTEEESTING  TESTS  OF  THE   BTIEEAU  OF  MINES 


194 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Saline  residues ;  (&)  natural  and  arti- 
ficial bitterns;  (c)  alunite  and  similar 
minerals;  (d)  potash  bearing  feldspars; 
(e)  greensand  marls,  and  (/)  organic 
sources,  as  seaweed,  molasses  residues, 
etc. 

Salt,  Bromine  and  Calcium  Chloride 
The  amount  of  salt  marketed  in  1915 
was  38,231,496  barrels,  valued  at  $11,- 
747,686,  an  increase  in  quantity  of  9.8 
per  cent  and  in  value  15.2  per  cent  as 
compared  with  1914.  In  1915  the  United 
States  produced  99.2  per  cent  of  the 
salt  used,  hence  no  need  for  importing 
this  staple  commodity. 

Bromine  is  produced  in  connection 
with  the  manufacture  of  salt  in  Michi- 
gan, Ohio  and  West  Virginia.  The  total 
amount  produced  in  1915  was  855,857 
pounds,  valued  at  $856,307.  The  high 
price  of  bromine  in  1915  was  due  in 
part  to  the  larger  demand  from  abroad, 
where  it  is  reported  to  be  used  in  making 
asphyxiating  gas. 

Calcium  chloride  is  one  of  the  by- 
products of  the  natural  brines  of  the 
Ohio  Valley.  A  large  amount  of  this 
salt  is  being  wasted  at  present  and  no 
doubt  new  uses  will  be  found  which  will 
stimulate  its  recovery. 

Sulphur  and  Sulphuric  Acid 
SulpJiur. — The  principal  production  of 
sulphur  in  the  United  States  is  from 
the  sulphur  wells  of  Louisiana  and 
Texas.  The  production  of  sulphur  in 
1914  was  327,634  long  tons,  valued  at 
$5,954,236.  The  United  Stales  produces 
sufficient  sulphur  for  domestic  consump- 
tion and  is  now  able  to  compete  with 
Italy,  which  ranks  second.  In  1909  the 
exports  of  sulphur  amounted  to  37,000 
long  tons,  while  in  1914  98,153  long 
tons  were  exported,  valued  at  $1,807,- 
334.  In  1914  26,135  tons  were 
imported. 

The  mining  of  sulphur  in  Louisiana  is 
by  the  Frasch  process,  whereby  super- 
heated water  is  forced  into  the  sulphur 
beds.  The  hot  water  melts  the  sulphur, 
so  that  it  is  pumped  to  the  surface  in 
a  molten  condition. 

Sulphuric  Acid. — The  most  important 
chemical  manufactured  in  the  United 
States  is  sulphuric  acid,  the  raw  ma- 
terial for  which  is  abundant  in  the  form 


of  native  sulphur,  pyrite  and  sulphur 
fumes  from  metallurgical  plants.  The 
production  of  sulphuric  acid  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  was  3,868,152 
short  tons,  valued  at  $29,869,080.  Sul- 
phuric acid  is  an  important  item  in  the 
fertilizer  industry  and  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  explosives.  The  manufacture  of 
sulphuric  acid  is  now  becoming  one  of 
the  important  by-product  processes  in 
connection  with  the  metallurgy  of  cop- 
per, whereby  the  sulphur  fumes  from 
the  sulphide  ores  may  be  collected  and 
converted  into  acid.  This  is  being  done 
on  a  large  scale  in  Tennessee,  and  there 
are  a  number  of  important  copper 
smelters  in  the  West  where  thousands 


Photo  Underwood  &  Underwood 

HYDRAULIC    MINING 

of  tons  of  sulphur  are  wasted  each  day, 
all  of  which  could  be  converted  into  sul- 
phuric acid  and  become  a  source  of 
profit,  instead  of  being  a  detriment  to 
growing  vegetation,  as  is  the  case  at 
present. 

Miscellaneous  Non-metallic  Products 

Arsenic. — White  arsenic  is  recovered 
as  a  by-product  from  some  of  the  copper 
smelters.  The  total  production  in  1914 
was  4,670  short  tons,  valued  at  $313,147. 

Asbestos. — The  production  of  asbestos 
in  the  United  States  in  1915  amounted 
to  1,731  short  tons,  valued  at  $76,952. 
This  represents,  an  increase  of  39  per 
cent  in  quantity  and  306  per  cent  in 
value  as  compared  with  1914.  The 
asbestos  deposits  in  the  United  States 
are  not  extensive  and  for  this  reason 
practically  all  of  the  asbestos  used  in 
the  country  is  imported,  largely  from 
Canada,  Arizona,  Idaho,  Georgia,  Call- 


THE  MINERAL   INDUSTRY 


195 


fornia  and  Wyoming   contain   promising 
deposits   of  asbestos. 

Asphalt. — The  production  of  natural 
asphalt  from  mines  and  quarries  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  amounted  to  75,- 
751  short  tons,  valued  at  $526,490.  The 
total  production  was  about  5  per  cent 
less  than  in  1914.  The  quantity  of 
manufactured  asphalt  produced  from 
domestic  petroleum  in  1915  was  664,503 
short  tons,  valued  at  $4,715,583,  used 
principally  for  road  building,  and  388,- 
318  short  tons  from  Mexican  petroleum, 
valued  at  $3,730,436. 


Georgia,  Massachusetts  and  Texas.  Flor- 
ida produced  about  75  per  cent. 

Garnet. — Practically  all  of  the  garnet 
in  the  United  States  is  used  for  abrasive 
purposes.  The  production  in  1914  was 
4,231  tons,  valued  at  $145,510. 

Gems  and  Precious  Stones. — The  pro- 
duction of  gems  and  precious  stones  in 
the  United  States  is  insignificant  as 
compared  with  the  imports.  The  total 
production  in  1914  was  $124,651,  as  com- 
pared with  imports  valued  at  $19.211,- 
084  in  1914  and  $45.431,998  in  1913. 

Graphite. — The    1915    production    was 


LABOR  AND  ACCIDENT  STATISTICS  FOR  THE  MINING  INDUSTRY 

(Compiled  from  reports  of  the   U.   8.  Bureau  of  Mines) 


Numbe 

r  killed 

Number 

injured 

Total 

Per  1,000 
employed 

Total 

Per  1,000 
employed 

Number 
employed 

Metal  Mines: 
1911 

695 

4  19 

26  577 

160  12 

165  979 

1912.  . 

661 

3  91 

30  734 

181   65 

169  199 

1913 

683 

3  57 

32  971 

172  37 

191  276 

1914  
1915 

559 
553 

3.54 
3  64 

30,216 
35  295 

191.10 
232  02 

158,115 
152  118 

Smelters: 
1913 

47 

2  29 

4  247 

206  53 

20  564 

1914  

33 

1    19 

5,673 

203   12 

27,879 

1915  
Ore  Dressing  Plants: 
1913  
1914      , 

38 

16 
23 

1.21 

1.07 
1   52 

5,718 

1,977 
1  434 

182.53 

131.93 
96  71 

31,327 

14,985 
15  128 

1915  

30 

1.62 

2,095 

112.85 

18,564 

Quarries: 
1911 

188 

1   69 

5  390 

48  58 

110  954 

1912  
1913 

213 

183 

1.88 
1   72 

6,562 
7  739 

57  .  93 
72   83 

113,105 

106  278 

1914  

180 

2.05 

7,836 

89.11 

87,936 

1915    

148 

1  47 

9  671 

96  30 

100,740 

Coal  Mines: 
1911  
1912 

2,656 
2  419 

3.65 
3  35 

* 
* 

728,348 
722,662 

1913 

2  785 

3  73 

* 

747  644 

1914.  . 
1915 

2,454 
2  269 

3.22 
3  09 

* 
* 

763,185 
734,008 

Coke  Ovens: 
1913 

46 

1   89 

2  514 

103.27 

24,345 

1914 

45 

2  02 

2  189 

98  10 

-  22,313 

1915  

38 

1.22 

2,852 

91.82 

31,060 

*  Not  available. 


Borax. — The  production  of  borax  in 
1914  amounted  to  62,400  short  tons, 
valued  at  $1,464,400.  The  larger  part 
of  the  borax  production  was  from  south- 
ern California. 

Feldspar. — The  amount  of  feldspar 
produced  in  the  United  States  in  1915 
was  113,769  short  tons,  valued  at  $629,- 
316,  representing  a  reduction  of  about 
16  per  cent  in  the  amount  produced. 

Fuller's  Earth. — The  production  of 
fuller's  earth  in  1915  in  the  United 
States  was  47,901  tons,  valued  at  $489,- 
219.  Six  States  reported  production  as 
follows :  Arkansas,  California,  Florida, 


4,718  short  tons,  valued  at  $429,631. 

Lime. — The  production  of  lime  in  the 
United  States  in  1915  amounted  to 
3,589,679  short  tons,  valued  at  $14,336,- 
756,  an  increase  of  6.2  per  cent  in 
quantity  and  8  per  cent  in  value  over  the 
figures  for  1914.  The  number  of  plants 
in  operation  decreased  from  954  in  1914 
to  905  in  1915. 

Magnesite. — The  majority  of  crude 
magnesite  comes  from  California.  The 
production  in  1914  was  11,293  short 
tons,  valued  at  $124,223.  The  imports 
of  magnesia  and  magnesite  amounted  to 
$1,453,508. 


196 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Mica. — The  value  of  the  mica  produced 
in  the  United  States  in  1915  was  $428,- 
769.  The  average  price  of  sheet  mica 
was  68  cents  a  pound,  as  compared  with 
50  cents  in  1914  and  21  cents  in  1913. 
North  Carolina  produced  more  than  one 
half  of  the  total  production,  followed  by 
New  Hampshire,  Idaho  and  South  Dakota. 

Mineral  Paints. — The  production  of 
mineral  paint  in  1914,  including  lead 
and  zinc  pigments,  amounted  to  173,557 
short  tons,  valued  at  $10,451,746. 

Sand  and  Gravel. — The  production  of 
glass  sand  in  1914  amounted  to  1,619,- 
649  short  tons,  valued  at  $1,568,030. 
The  production  of  sand  and  gravel  for 
moulding,  building  and  other  purposes 
was  77,662,086  short  tons,  valued  at 
$22,278,969. 

Slate. — The  production  of  slate  in  1915 
in  the  United  States  was  valued  at 
$4,958,515,  a  decrease  of  13  per  cent 
as  compared  with  1914.  Pennsylvania 
and  Vermont  produced  more  than  86  per 
cent  of  the  total  roofing  slate,  the  re- 
mainder coming  largely  from  Maryland, 
Virginia  and  New  York. 

Exports  of  slate  in  1915  were  $46,137, 
as  compared  with  $139,125  in  1914.  The 
exports  were  the  lowest  since  1895.  The 
imports  amounted  to  $2,768  in  1915,  as 
compared  with  $4,855  in  1914. 

Talc  and  Soapstone. — The  amount  of 
talc  and  soapstone  produced  in  1915 
was  186,891  tons,  valued  at  $1,891,582. 


QUABEY  INDUSTRY 

The  value  of  the  quarry  products 
in  the  United  States,  including 
granite,  basalt,  trap  rock,  limestone, 
sandstone  and  marble  used  for  build- 
ing, monumental,  paving  and  other 
purposes,  amounted  to  $77,412,292  in 
1914.  The  granite  production  was 
valued  at  $20,028,019,  30  per  cent  of 
which  was  used  in  building,  23  per 
cent  in  monumental  work,  14  per 
cent  in  paving  and  19  per  cent  as 
crushed  rock.  The  limestone  indus- 
try is  the  largest,  amounting  to  $33,- 
894,155,  of  which  10  per  cent  is  used 
in  building  and  nearly  60  per  cent  as 
crushed  stones,  the  remainder  being 
used  for  paving,  curbing,  nagging 
and  riprap.  The  marble  industry  is 
the  third  in  size,  amounting  to  $8,- 
121,412,  of  which  sixty  per  cent  is 
used  in  building  and  thirty  per  cent 
for  monumental  purposes/  Sand- 
stone amounted  to  $7,501,808,  while 
basalt  and  traprock  amounted  to 
$7,865,998. 


ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED   GANTRY  CRANE   SERVING   BLOCK  PILE 


THE  MINERAL  INDUSTRY 


197 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  COPPER,  TIN  &  LEAD 


WORLD'S  PRODUCTION  OF  DIAMONDS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES 


198 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Copyright  Munn  &  Co. 


THE   GREATEST   INVENTOR   OF  THE  AGE 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 

THE   PATENT   OFFICE   AND   INVENTION 
SINCE  1845 

HOW  THE  GOVERNMENT  HAS  KEPT  PACE  WITH  THE 

INVENTOR 

By  WILLIAM  I.  WYMAN 


IN    1845,    the    birth   year   of   the 
SCIENTIFIC  AMERICAN,  the  present 
patent  system  was  nine  years  old. 
In  1836  the  Patent  Office  was  placed 
on  a  distinct  basis,  the  system  re- 
organized  and   the   examination    or 
American  method  of  searching  pat- 
ents inaugurated. 

THOMAS     JEFFERSON     WAS     THE     FIRST 
COMMISSIONER   OF   PATENTS 

The  American  patent  system  was 
founded  under  the  act  of  1790.  Un- 
der this  act  the  Secretary  of  State, 
the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  At- 
torney General  constituted  a  board 
to  consider  all  applications  for  pat- 
ents. Thomas  Jefferson,  the  first 
Secretary  of  State,  was  in  effect  the 
first  Commissioner  of  Patents  and 
the  first  Examiner.  It  is  said  that 
he  personally  examined  into  and  de- 
termined the  patentability  of  every 
application  filed  during  his  first 
years  in  office  as  head  of  the  State 
Department.  The  grant  of  a  patent 
then  was  not  only  a  procedure  of 
exceeding  dignity,  being  signed  by 
the  President,  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  the  Attorney  General,  but  was 
issued  with  some  reluctance.  Only 
three  patents  were  permitted  to  see 
the  light  of  day  in  1790. 

From  this  modest  beginning,  the 
business  of  the  patent  system  grew 


slowly,  but  steadily.  From  1790  to 
1802  it  required  but  one  State  De- 
partment clerk  to  perform  all  the 
clerical  work  pertaining  to  the  Pat- 
ent Office,  the  entire  records  of  which 
were  contained  in  a  dozen  pigeon- 
holes. Up  to  1836,  about  10,000  pat- 


INCREASB  OF  POPULATION.  TOTAL  WEALTH,! 

VALUE  OP  PRODUCTS  AND  ANNUAL  ISSUE 

OF  PATENTS  FROM  1850  TO  1910. 


ents  were  granted.  In  that  year, 
the  Patent  Office  became  an  indepen- 
dent bureau,  headed  by  a  commis- 
sioner, assisted  by  one  examiner  and 
six  other  subordinate  clerks  and  em- 
ployees. While  the  reorganization 
gave  the  Office  a  dignity  and  stand- 
ing it  did  not  have  before,  still  the 
force  provided  to  cope  with  the 
pressing  demands  of  inventors  does 
not  now  appear  to  be  excessively 


Copyright    by    Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


200 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


large.  And  yet  critics,  whose  sense 
of  economy  was  more  acute  than 
were  their  gifts  of  imagination,  de- 
cried the  sheer  waste  entailed  by  an 
organization  so  extravagant  in  men. 
But  applications  came  pouring  in, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  ex- 


The  United  States  of  America. 


vluim  fhefe  Letters   P,itcnt 


AN    EARLY   PATENT 

One  of  the  first  patents  signed  by  President 
Washington  in  possession  of  Munn  &  Co. 

amining  corps  had  to  be  doubled  by 
the  appointment  of  an  additional  ex- 
aminer, and  in  1839  the  position  of 
two  assistant  examiners  was  cre- 
ated to  keep  pace  with  the  growing 
business. 
The  act  of  1793  was  the  only  one 


which  provided  for  the  grant  of  a 
patent  without  examination.  In 
1836  the  modern  examination  sys- 
tem was  instituted,  by  which  a 
search  through  patents  and  publica- 
tions was  made  to  determine  the 
question  of  novelty.  This  act  also 
for  the  first  time  made  a  positive 
requirement  for  the  inclusion  of  a 
claim  in  the  specification  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms: 

"He  [the  inventor]  shall  positively 
specify  and  point  out  the  part,  improve- 
ment or  combination  which  he  claims 
as  his  own  invention  or  discovery." 

THE     EARLY     DAYS     OF     THE     PRESENT 
PATENT    OFFICE 

In  1836  the  erection  of  the  Patent 
Office  was  begun;  the  building  was 
finished  in  1840.  This  original  struc- 
ture forms  the  F  Street  wing  of  the 
present  building.  In  1845  the  pat- 
ent system  was  well  on  its  way  and 
the  Office  properly  housed,  with  an 
official  force  of  one  commissioner, 
two  examiners,  and  two  assistant  ex- 
aminers. In  that  year,  1,246  new 
applications  were  filed,  besides  many 
caveats,  and  the  work  was  becoming 
too  heavy  for  this  limited  force  to 
handle  effectively.  This  condition 
became  and  continues  to  be  chronic. 

Even  as  early  as  1850,  only  five 
years  after  the  founding  of  the 
"Scientific  American"  and  but  four- 
teen years  after  the  reorganization 
of  the  Patent  Office,  American  inven- 
tions were  numbered  among  the 
most  notable  produced.  In  1857, 
this  country  issued  over  one-third 
more  patents  than  Great  Britain, 
which  at  that  time  had  a  substantial- 
ly greater  population.  In  that  year, 


Patents, 
Total  Is- 
sued to 
that  year 

Total 
Wealth 

Per  Capita 

Popula- 
tion 

Value  of 
products 

1850. 
1860. 
1870. 
1880. 
1890. 
1900. 
1910. 

7,000 
27,000 
98,000 
223,000 
419,000 
640,000 
945,000 

7  Billion 
16 
27* 
43 
65 

$308 
514 
750* 
870 
1,036 
1,165 
1,400* 

23    Million 
31.4 
38.5 
50 
62.6 
76 
92 

1     Billion 
1.885 
3.400 
5.3 
9.4 
13 
20.6 

*  Estimated. 


202 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


HOW  THE  NUMBER  OF  PATENTS  HAS  INCREASED  YEAR  BY  YEAR 


the  United  States  with  a  population 
of  23,000,000  issued  2,910  patents, 
Prussia  with  almost  17,000,000  is- 
sued 48,  while  Russia,  with  70,- 
000,000  population,  issued  24  patents. 
Commissioner  Holt,  in  his  annual 
report  for  that  year,  in  reviewing 
the  statistics,  grows  eloquent  and 
philosophizes  thus : 

"As  the  light  of  liberty  waxes  dim- 
mer, so  does  the  inventive  genius  flag 
and  dull  apace,  until  finally,  amid  the 
darkness  of  the  political  night  which 
broods  over  Eastern  lands,  it  is  utterly 
extinguished." 

THE    ANTE-BELLUM    PERIOD    OF    AMERI- 
CAN   INVENTION 

During  this  decade,  the  one  im- 
mediately preceding  the  Civil  war, 
the  stimulating  influence  of  inven- 
tion upon  industry  became  notice- 
ably apparent.  Southern  New  Eng- 
land was  tending  to  become  a  gigan- 
tic workshop  and  the  character  of 
entire  sections  of  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  radically 
changed  from  agricultural  to  indus- 
trial communities.  The  invention  of 
the  sewing  machine — the  greatest 
labor-saving  device  of  the  ages — iwas 
of  itself  a  tremendous  stimulus,  and 
the  opening  up  of  the  West  through 
the  railroad  meant  activity  in  iron 
production  and  the  basic  engineering 


industries.  The  reaper  and  the 
thresher  made  the  opening  up  of  the 
West  profitable  and  the  inventions 
in  firearms,  machine  tools,  locks  and 


ELIAS    HOWE,    JR. 

Inventor    of    the    Sewing    Machine 

Born   July   9,   1819 
Died  October  3,  1867 


THE   PATENT   OFFICE 


203 


MONUMENT  TO   THE   THREE   HOWES  AT 
SPENCER,    MASS. 


labor-saving  devices  and  textile  ma- 
chinery initiated  new  industries  and 
accelerated  the  growth  of  the  coun- 
try by  leaps  and  bounds.  By  the 
time  the  Civil  war  broke  upon  the 
country,  only  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  the  inauguration  of  the  pres- 
ent patent  system,  and  in  spite  of 
the  pre-eminently  agricultural  char- 
acter of  her  pursuits,  this  country 
gave  every  evidence  that  she  was  to 
be  among  the  first  of  the  industrial 
nations. 

AFTER    THE     CIVIL     WAR 

The  distracting  period  of  the  Civil 
war  over,  activity  in  enterprise  in- 
creased energetically,  and  in  the 
year  after  the  Civil  war  closed  there 
were  filed  in  the  ofiice  over  three 
times  as  many  applications  as  were 
filed  in  1861.  During  the  war,  the 
Bessemer  process  was  developing, 
and  the  influence  of  this  most  stimu- 
lating of  inventions,  which  inaugur- 
ated the  age  of  steel  and  our  present 


intensive  industrial  era,  became  felt 
not  long  after  its  close.  Then  began 
a  period  of  true  national  expansion 
— the  further  developing  of  the 
West,  with  strenuous  enterprise  in 
reaching  out  with  new  railroads, 
building  of  steel  mills  and  locomo- 
tive works — marking  an  inflation  of 
energy,  industry  and  finance,  which 
culminated  in  the  severe  panic  of 
1873.  The  country  paused  for  a 
little  while  and  took  account  of 
stock  at  the  great  Centennial  Ex- 
position in  1876.  The  wonders  of 
our  material  advance,  practically  all 
of  which  were  induced  by  invention, 
such  as  the  Corliss  engine,  the  tex- 
tile machines,  woodworking  tools, 
machine  tools,  the  sewing  machine, 
hydraulic  machinery  and  various 
kinds  of  automatic  appliances,  were 
there  spread  out  for  inspection  to 
demonstrate  the  ingenuity  of  the 
American  inventor  and  the  intimate 
relation  existing  between  him  and 
what  was  making  American  devel- 
opment. 


A.  B.  WILSON 

Sewing   Machine    Inventor 


204 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


The  period  from  1865  to  1880  gave 
inkling  of  the  dawn  of  a  radically 
new  era.  The  electrical  age  was 
prognosticated  in  the  dynamos  of 
Gramme,  Siemens  and  Brush,  the 
Bell  telephone  and  the  arc  lamp. 
But  they  left  no  impression  upon  in- 
dustry or  the  social  life  of  the  time 


THE  MOST  FERTILE 
FIELDS    OF    IN- 
VENTION. 

Patents. 

Carriages  and  Wagons..     37,728 
Clasps.  Buckles,  Buttons     18,772 

Harvesters 15,006 

Plows 15,907 

Mills 18,803 

Machine  Elements 15,062 

Builders'  Hardware 15.826 

GamesandToys 12,164 

Locks  and  Latches 11,930 

Mills,  Grinding,  etc 18,803 

Railways 11,347 

Railway  Rollins:  Stock. .     15,462 

Seeders  and  Planters 1 1 ,059 

Water  Distribution- 
Mains  and  Pipes,  Cocks 
and  Faucets,  Pipe 

Couplings,  etc 

Wood  Working 

Washing  Machines  and 
Other  Laundry  Appli- 
ances  

Stei 


SOME  OF  THE   MOST  PRO- 
LIFIC  INVENTORS. 

Patents. 


Edison 

Elihu  Thomson 

Francis  H.  Richards. . . 

Edward  Weston 

Charles  E.  Scribner.... 
George  Westinghouse.. 


977 
617 
847 
•JO  9 
4M7 
340 


DIAGRAM     SHOWING     RATIO     OF     IN- 

CREASE      OF      UNITED      STATES 

PATENTS    FOR    FIVE   YEARS 


until  the  next  period  got  into  swing. 
From  1867  to  1879,  the  annual  num- 
ber of  applications  filed  remained 
stationary  and  averaged  around 
20,000  per  year,  but  about  the  time 
specie  payments  were  resumed,  the 
country  appeared  to  take  on  a  new 
lease  of  life.  In  1867,  21,276  appli- 
cations were  filed,  and  in  1879,  20,- 
059;  in  the  next  year  (1880)  the 
number  increased  to  23,012,  and  in 
1889  reached  40,575,  more  than  dou- 
ble the  number  filed  ten  years  before. 
In  that  decade  the  country  literally 
jumped  forward  and  inventive  in- 
genuity reached  the  golden  age  of 
its  activity. 

THE   ADVENT   OF   THE   HIRED   INVENTOR 

The  larger  concerns  have  in  con- 
nection with  their  patent  depart- 
ments or  in  association  with  them 
research  laboratories  with  a  corps  of 
highly  trained  engineers  and  tech- 
nical and  scientific  assistants.  Ev- 
ery improvement  of  a  patentable  na- 
ture, if  of  proved  utility  or  possible 
merit,  becomes  the  subject  matter  of 
an  application,  not  only  for  the  mon- 
opoly that  a  patent  may  bring,  but 
also  as  a  protection  in  its  manufac- 
ture and  as  a  matter  of  record.  The 
patent  department  advises  the  tech- 
nicians whether  a  proposed  device 
may  be  patented  or  whether  it  in- 
fringes an  existing  patent,  and  also 
appraises  the  validity  and  value  of 
patents  offered  to  the  company  for 
sale.  The  experimental  department 
will  try  out  new  ideas  or  develop 
them  to  some  conclusion.  Many  of 
the  big  things  now  come  through 
these  organizations,  for  frequently 
in  the  evolution  of  an  art,  an  instru- 
mentality may  be  so  complex,  re- 
quire the  expenditure  of  so  much 
skill  and  money  to  develop  and  dem- 
onstrate, that  only  a  company  with 
large  resources  is  able  to  handle  the 
proposition.  Thus,  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company  took  several  years, 
plus  an  expenditure  of  a  few  mil- 
lion dollars,  to  develop  the  Curtis 
turbine.  It  is  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon for  a  promoter  to  spend  over 
$100,000  to  develop  a  process  or  ap- 


THE   PATENT   OFFICE 


205 


JOHN   ERICSSON 

Inventor  of  the   "Monitor" 

paratus  so  it  will  be  marketable. 
Edison,  who,  if  not  incorporated,  is 
a  host  in  himself,  frequently  spent 
thousands  upon  thousands  in  inves- 
tigations and  has  made  experiments 
by  the  hundreds  before  he  was  in 
a  position  to  announce  results.  There 
are  some  devices  which  are  so  in- 
tricate in  design,  notably  type  set- 
ting and  casting  machines,  that  any- 
where from  a  quarter  to  one  million 
dollars  may  be  expended  in  construc- 
tion and  improvement,  in  trials  and 
changes,  only  to  prove  eventually, 
what  could  not  possibly  be  deter- 
mined in  advance,  that  it  could  not 
meet  the  various  requirements  de- 
manded in  commercial  practice. 
Mark  Twain  sank  his  personal  for- 
tune of  several  hundred  thousands 
in  a  typesetting  device,  probably  the 
most  intricate  bit  of  mechanism 
ever  devised,  because,  while  the  ma- 
chine did  everything  it  was  designed 
to  do,  it  was  too  intricate  to  be 
understood  by  the  ordinary  me- 
chanic. 
Then  again,  the  device  may  be 


simple  enough,  its  merits  sufficiently 
obvious,  but  it  may  require  more 
business  acumen,  push  and  advertis- 
ing to  introduce  it  than  would  be  re- 
quired to  market  an  article  of  staple 
and  competitive  character,  or  some- 
times no  character  at  all.  A  well- 
known  instance  of  this  inertia  on 
the  part  of  the  public  is  the  case  of 
a  certain  safety  razor,  which  re- 
quired prodigious  efforts  on  the  part 
of  its  promoters  to  eventually  get 
the  public  to  use  what  appeared  to 
be  a  self-evident  filling  of  a  long- 
felt  want.  No  inventor  can  afford 
to  create  without  the  protection  of 
the  patent  laws,  because  the  labor 
and  expense  he  is  placed  under  pre- 
liminary to  establishing  the  utility 
of  his  invention  becomes  a  fixed 
charge  and  the  very  means  to  handi- 
cap him  against  a  piratical  competi- 
tor, who  can  start  without  such  a 
burden. 

THE  INFINITE  POSSIBILITIES   THAT   LIE 
IN     INVENTION 

In  1844,  Commissioner  Ellsworth, 
contemplating     the     13,500    patents 


CAPTAIN  JAMES  B.   EADS 


206 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


granted  up  to  that  year,  over  500 
of  which  were  issued  in  the  year 
1843,  and  apprehending  a  cessation 
of  all  endeavors  in  the  field  of  in- 
vention, uttered  this  prediction  in 
his  official  report:  "The  advance- 
ment of  the  arts,  from  year  to  year, 
taxes  our  credulity  and  seems  to 
presage  the  arrival  of  that  period 
when  human  improvement  must 
end."  The  commissioner  could  well 
marvel  at  the  astounding  advances 
made  in  labor-saving  devices  during 
his  own  lifetime,  but  what  would 
have  been  his  mental  state  could  he 
have  been  endowed  with  prophetic 
vision  and  have  foreseen  but  a  frac- 
tion of  the  inventive  activity  which 
has  taken  place  in  a  man's  lifetime 
from  the  date  of  his  utterance?  The 
number  of  patents  now  is  over  a 
million,  the  annual  issue  is  more 
than  three  times  the  number  of  all 
the  patents  granted  up  to  his  day, 
and  the  examining  corps  has  in- 
creased from  four  to  almost  four 
hundred  without  being  able  to  keep 
pace  with  the  ever  growing  tide  of 


R.   J.    GATLING 
Inventor  of  the  Gatling  Gun 


$300,000  FOR   A  PATENT 

THE    AUTOGRAPHIC    KODAK 
THE    DEVICE 

THE    PRODUCT THE    INVENTOR 

THE    MATERIAL    REWARD 

new  work.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
value  of  American  manufactures  at- 
tributable directly  or  indirectly  to 
patentable  inventions  amounts  to 
the  enormous  total  of  more  than 
twenty  billion  dollars,  which  is 
about  four  times  the  value  of  all 
taxable  property  in  the  United 
States  at  the  time  Commissioner 
Ellsworth  made  his  report. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  single 
invention  of  producing  steel  by  the 
Bessemer  process  doubled,  directly 
or  through  its  influence,  the  world's 
wealth  in  the  third  of  a  century  af- 
ter its  introduction. 

More  astounding  are  the  figures 
relating  to  the  electrical  industries, 
including  telephony,  central  station 
lighting  and  power,  and  electric  rail- 
ways, the  latest  figures  available 
showing  an  investment  in  the  United 
States  alone  of  seven  billion  dol- 
lars, annual  gross  revenue  or  sales 


THE    PATENT   OFFICE 


207 


DAGUERRE 
From  an  original  Daguerreotype 

of  over  a  billion,  in  which  three 
quarters  of  a  million  men  were  en- 
gaged, at  an  annual  pay-roll  of  over 
three  hundred  and  fifty  million  dol- 
lars. These  industries  were  either 
non-existent  in  1880  or  in  their  in- 
cipient stage  at  that  time.  Their 
origins  and  every  advance  therein 
were  directly  founded  on  inventions, 
every  one  of  which  is  patented  and 
of  record  in  the  Patent  Office. 

THE    TREND    OF    INVENTION 

The  -activity  of  the  different 
classes  in  the  Patent  Office  from 
time  to  time  reflects  accurately  the 
changes  which  constantly  pass  in  the 
world  of  industry  and  the  applied 
arts.  The  basic  pursuit  in  this  coun- 
try always  being  the  tilling  of  the 
soil,  patents  for  agricultural  imple- 
ments have  occupied  a  prominent  po- 
sition, both  in  numbers  and  import- 
ance throughout  its  history.  The 
invention  of  the  sewing  machine  in- 
itiated a  period  of  great  activity  in 
a  new  art,  while  the  telephone  let 


loose  a  flood  of  inventions  for  adap- 
tations and  improvements.  The  new 
electro-chemical  industry  came  into 
being  about  the  middle  of  the  eight- 
ies and  patent  activity  with  rela- 
tion thereto  was  high  at  the  same 
time.  The  incandescent  lamp  start- 
ed the  electric  age,  in  whose  vortex 
we  still  are,  and  patent  concern  in 
all  things  electrical  is  still  inten- 
sive. The  rise  and  fall  of  the  bicy- 
cle, the  wave  of  interest  in  auto- 
matic car  couplings,  the  first  surg- 
ings  of  activity  in  aeroplane  inven- 
tion, and  the  deep  concern  of  the 
great  ingenious  to  solve  the  urgent 
non-refillable  bottle  problem  —  all 
these  movements  have  been  reflected 
in  the  filing  of  applications  in  the 
Patent  Office.  In  recent  years  the 
automobile  is  establishing  records, 
the  arts  relating  to  internal  com- 
bustion motors,  carbureters,  gear- 
ings, self-starters,  accessories,  alloy 
steels  and  heat  treatment  of  steels 
being  specially  active. 

The  United  States  has  by  far  the 
proudest  record  in  the  field  of  in- 
vention ;  whether  reckoning  by  the 
number  of  pioneer  products,  their 
ingenuity,  or  their  far-reaching  ef- 


GEORGE  WESTINGHOTISE 
Inventor  of  the  Air  Brake,  etc. 


208 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Photo  by  Hoppe 

SIR   HIRAM   MAXIM 


fects  in  the  greatest  diversity  of 
fields,  she  easily  stands  in  first 
place.  Particularly  in  labor-saving 
devices  does  she  stand  foremost.  No 
one  in  all  history  has  worked  so 
hard  to  save  labor  as  the  Yankee. 
The  greatest  of  all  labor-saving  de- 
vices, the  sewing  machine,  is  his, 
and  outside  of  textile  machinery, 
practically  all  the  great  advances  in 
this  department  have  been  of  his 
invention,  as  witness  the  cotton  gin, 
the  reaper,  shoe  machinery,  type- 
writer and  typesetting  machines. 

In  the  field  of  electricity  the  Amer- 
ican shares  pre-eminence  with  Eu- 
ropeans, and  yet  the  three  most  sig- 
nal advances  in  electrical  applica- 
tion are  to  his  credit — the  telegraph, 
telephone,  and  the  incandescent 
lamp.  Since  1880  (the  typewriter 
was  invented  a  few  years  previous- 
ly) no  revolutionary  mechanical  in- 
ventions comparable  to  those  which 
signaled  American  ingenuity  previ- 
ously, was  devised  except  the  type- 
setting machine,  but  in  the  field  of 
electricity  (incandescent  lamp,  trol- 


ley car,  electric  welding),  optics 
( kinetoscope,  transparent  film)  and 
air  navigation  (an  absolutely  new 
art)  he  did  not  remain  inactive. 

SOME    PROLIFIC    INVENTORS 

Between  1872  and  1900,  Thomas 
Edison  had  received  742  patents;  F. 
H.  Richards,  619;  Elihu  Thomson, 
444;  Charles  E.  Scribner,  374;  L. 
C.  Crowell,  293;  Edward  Weston, 
280;  R.  M.  Hunter,  276;  Charles  J. 
Van  Depoele,  245 ;  and  George  West- 
inghouse,  239.  Up  to  1910  Edison 
secured  905  patents,  of  which  713 
were  electrical.  Considering  all  the 
patents  that  are  probably  pending 
or  in  course  of  preparation,  it  is 
estimated  that  the  number  of  his 
inventions  is  greater  than  2,000.  It 
is  safe  to  assert  that  he  is  the  most 
prolific  inventor  of  all  time. 

Although  Great  Britain  has  more 
pioneer  inventions  to  her  credit  in- 
volving fundamental  operations  that 
underlie  all  industry,  than  any  other 
country,  the  only  innovations  of  pio- 
neer character  she  has  contributed 


Copyright,  Harris  &  Ewing 

ALEXANDER    GRAHAM   BELL 


THE    PATENT   OFFICE 


209 


in  the  last  one  half  century  are  the 
basic  process  for  making  steel,  the 
steam  turbine,  and  the  cyanide  pro- 
cess. But  the  steam  engine,  the 
greatest  invention  of  all  ages,  is 
hers,  and  so  is  the  Bessemer  process, 


DR.    DIESEL 
Inventor   of   the   Diesel   Engine 

which  inaugurated   our  present  in- 
tensive industrial  era. 

Germany  before  1871  was  an  al- 
most negligible  factor  in  the  field 
of  applied  science,  although  she  had 
previously  to  that  date  given  ample 
evidence  of  her  vigor  in  pure  science. 
The  adoption  of  a  patent  system 


based  upon  that  of  the  United  States 
was  an  extreme  stimulus  to  inven- 
tion, and  the  impetus  given  to  inven- 
tiveness is  shown  by  the  large  num- 
ber of  very  important  contributions 
she  has  devised  in  the  last  35  years, 
and  the  increasing  number  of  patents 
she  has  taken  out  in  this  country 
in  recent  years,  now  exceeding  those 
applied  for  by  any  other  foreign  na- 
tion. To  her  sons  is  due  the  gas 
engine,  the  gasoline  motor ;  the  crude 
oil  engine  (Diesel  motor)  ;  the  auto- 
mobile; the  Welsbach  lamp;  the 
tungsten  lamp;  the  X-ray  machine; 
the  utilization  of  blast  furnace 
gases  for  operation  of  gas  engines; 
the  superheating  of  steam  in  loco- 
motive practice ;  the  synthesis  of  in- 
digo ;  the  contact  method  of  making 
sulphuric  acid ;  the  Goldschmidt 
thermit  process,  and  the  innumer- 
able and  radical  innovations  in  dye 
making,  drugs,  and  chemicals. 

An  interesting  confirmation  of  the 
changing  character  of  our  population 
may  be  made  by  comparing  the 
names  of  inventors  prominent  in  the 
earlier  periods  of  the  country's  his- 
tory with  those  which  are  found 
frequently  scattered  through  the 
later  additions  of  the  Official  Ga- 
zette. Fulton,  Whittemore,  Bigelow, 
Blanchard,  Hoe,  Campbell,  Ames, 
Fairbanks,  Howe,  Colt,  McCormick, 
etc.,  testify  to  the  complete  Anglo- 
Saxon  predominance  of  former 
times,  while  such  names  as  Betten- 
dorf,  Mergenthaler,  Pupin,  Tesla, 
Christensen,  Doherty,  Frasch,  Gal- 
lagher, Conner,  Monnot,  Krakau, 
Mesta,  Steinmetz,  Sauveur,  and  Lin- 
denthal,  which  are  abundantly 
sprinkled  among  the  names  listed  in 
recent  Official  Gazettes,  offer  proof 
of  the  leavening  that  is  going  on  in 
all  departments  of  American  life. 


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CHAPTER  XVII. 
MANUFACTURES 


THE  extent  of  manufacturing 
operations  in  the  United 
States  is  perhaps  best  under- 
stood by  considering  that  during  the 
year  1914  there  were  8,265,426  per- 
sons engaged  in  manufacturing  or 
29.4  per  cent  of  all  workers  engaged 
in  gainful  occupations.  Of  this  num- 
ber, 264,872  were  proprietors  and 
firm  members,  964,217  were  salaried 
employees  and  7,036,337  were  wrage 
earners.  With  the  exception  of  the 
agricultural  industry,  the  manufac- 
turing establishments  of  the  United 
States  employ  more  men  than  any 
other  industry. 

With  respect  to  the  value  of  the 
products  produced,  manufactures 
rank  first,  the  total  value  of  the 
products  turned  out  during  the  year 
1914  being  $24,246,323,000.  This 
amount  represents  the  selling  value 
or  prices  at  the  plants  of  the  prod- 
ucts turned  out  and  does  not  neces- 
sarily have  any  relation  to  the 
amount  of  sales  for  the  year.  The 
cost  of  materials  used  was  $14,- 
368,089,000,  leaving  $9,878,234,000 
as  the  value  added  by  manufacture. 

The  salaries  and  wages  paid  out 
for  the  year  amounted  to  $5,367,- 
249,000,  of  which  amount,  $1,287,- 
917,000  was  paid  to  the  964.217  sal- 
aried employees  and  $4,079,332,000 
to  the  7,036,337  wage  earners. 

It  is  impossible  in  the  short  space 
allotted  to  this  subject  to  more  than 
indicate,  in  a  general  way,  the  ex- 
tent of  manufacturing  operations  in 
the  United  States.  For  convenience 
the  industries  are  treated  under  the 
following  headings :  Manufactured 
Food  Products,  Textiles,  Iron  and 


Steel  Manufactures,  Transportation, 
the  Electrical  Industry,  the  Leather 
Industry,  Paper  and  Printing  and 
Publishing,  Chemicals  and  Allied 
Products  and  Miscellaneous  Indus- 
tries. Detailed  information  relative 
to  particular  industries  may  be  had 
by  addressing  the  Bureau  of  the 
Census,  Department  of  Commerce, 
Washington,  D.  C.  Unless  otherwise 
stated  the  statistics  given  are  for  the 
census  of  manufactures  for  1914. 


INDUSTRIAL  PREPAREDNESS 

Tabulating     inventory     of     manufacturing 

plants 


Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


212 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


MANUFACTURED  FOOD   PRODUCTS 


SLAUGHTERING     AND     MEAT     PACKING 

There  were  slaughtered  for  food  in 
wholesale  establishments  during  the 
year  1914,  7,149,042  beeves,  2,019,004 
calves,  15,951,860  sheep  and  lambs  and 
goats  and  kids  and  34,441,913  hogs. 
The  total  products  were  valued  at  $1,- 
651,765,424.  The  fresh  meat  aggregated 
6,656,031,002  pounds,  valued  at  $769,- 
383,846,  comprising:  3,658.333,660 
pounds  of  beef,  valued  at  $421,296,794  ; 
194,698,880  pounds  of  veal,  valued  at 
$26,299,446  ;  629,232,690  pounds  of  mut- 
ton and  lamb,  including  some  goat  meat, 
valued  at  $74,675,627;  1,877,099,071 
pounds  of  pork,  valued  at  $226,535,734  ; 
and  296,666,701  pounds  of  edible  offal, 
dressed  poultry,  goat  meat,  and  game, 
valued  at  $20.576,245.  Cured  meat, 
consisting  of  dry  salt,  pickled  and 
smoked  beef  and  pork,  exclusive  of 
canned  meat,  sausage  and  meat  pud- 
dings, aggregated  3,020,881.494  pounds, 
valued  at  $408,000,916,  and  comprised 
91,571,573  pounds  of  beef,  valued  at 
$14,395,316,  and  2.929,309.741  pounds 
of  pork,  valued  at  $393,605,600.  Canned 
goods,  consisting  of  beef,  pork,  meat 
products,  and  other  canned  goods,  ex- 
clusive of  sausage,  represented  160,- 
798,955  pounds,  valued  at  $26,417,624. 
The  output  of  sausage  was  509,151,311 
pounds,  valued  at  $68,195,522,  including 
74,004,380  pounds  of  canned  sausage, 
valued  at  $9,845,669,  and  also  some 
sausage  in  paper  cartons  for  which  fig- 
ures are  not  available.  These  figures, 
however,  do  not  include  the  output  of 
establishments  engaged  primarily  in  the 
manufacture  of  sausage.  Of  lard — com- 
prising prime  steam,  pure  leaf  kettle- 
rendered,  leaf,  refined  and  neutral — 
1,119,188,675  pounds,  valued  at  $120,- 
414,007,  was  rendered.  The  production 
of  compound  lard  and  lard  substitutes 
was  396,397,950  pounds,  valued  at  $33,- 
037,467 ;  of  oil — comprising  oleo,  lard, 
neat's-foot,  and  cooking  oil — 23,217,082 
gallons,  valued  at  $15,935,434 ;  of  raw 
and  rendered  tallow  and  oleo  stock, 
209,614,135  pounds,  valued  at  $13,732,- 
756;  of  oleo  and  lard  stearin.  30,091,- 
991  pounds,  valued  at  $2,752,421 ;  and 
of  oleomargarine,  60,387,881  pounds, 
valued  at  $8,818,557. 

CANNING   AND    PRESERVING 

There  were  538  establishments  en- 
gaged in  canning  and  preserving  fish 
and  oysters  in  the  United  States  during 
the  year  1914,  the  products  of  which 
were  valued  at  $55,283,404.  The  total 
value  of  fish  and  oysters  canned  was 
$41,321,593,  of  which  amount  clams  were 
valued  at  $670.363  ;  oysters,  $2,676,951 ; 
salmon,  $27,633,284 ;  sardines,  $6,238,- 
933;  shrimp,  $1,725,621;  tuna,  $1,638,- 
675  ;  and  other  fish,  $737,766.  The  pro- 
duction of  smoked  or  dried  fish  was 
28,713,806  pounds,  valued  at  $2,759,341 
and  was  made  up  as  follows  :  Finnan 


haddie,  4,095,693  pounds,  valued  at 
$327,877  ;  halibut,  509,288  po,unds,  valued 
at  $62,546;  herring,  11,504,126  pounds, 
valued  at  $719,640;  salmon,  4,248,896 
pounds,  valued  at  $638.975 ;  sturgeon, 
511,196  pounds,  valued  at  $150.614  ;  all 
other  smoked  or  dried  fish,  7,844,607 
pounds,  valued  at  $859,689.  The  out- 
put of  salt  or  pickled  fish  was  156,153,- 
589  pounds,  valued  at  $9,200.162  as 
follows :  Cod,  83,502,295  pounds,  val- 
ued at  $5,561,770;  haddock,  4,947,286 
pounds,  valued  at  $218,359 ;  herring, 
22,150,974  pounds,  valued  at  $668.838; 
mackerel,  6,224,313  pounds,  valued  at 
$519,727 ;  all  other  salted  or  pickled 
fish,  39,328,721  pounds,  valued  at  $2,- 
231.468. 

There  were  3,199  establishments  en- 
gaged in  the  canning  and  drying  of 
fruits  and  vegetables,  the  products  of 
which  were  valued  at  $158,015,893.  The 
value  of  canned  and  dried  fruits  and 
vegetables  packed  during  the  year  was 
as  follows :  Canned  vegetables,  $84,- 
413.667;  canned  fruits,  $24,897,174; 
dried  fruits,  $34,771,912  ;  canned  soups, 
$7,877,057 ;  other  products  were  valued 
at  $6,056,083. 

FLOUR  AND  GRIST  MILL  PRODUCTS 

The  products  of  the  10,787  establish- 
ments, which  did  merchant  grinding 
during  the  year  1914,  were  valued  at 
$875,496,013. 

The  consumption  of  wheat  by  flour 
mills  and  grist  mills  was  543.970,038 
bushels ;  rye,  12,748,135  bushels ;  corn, 
180,115,704  bushels;  buckwheat.  5,- 
478,045  bushels;  barley,  20,288,396 
bushels;  oats,  50,227,050  bushels;  other 
grain,  4,277,864  bushels;  alfalfa,  87,884 
tons  ;  and  other  material,  121,965  tons. 

The  output  for  the  year  1914  was  as 
follows :  Wheat  flour,  116,045,090  bar- 
rels, valued  at  $542,051,752 ;  rye  flour 
and  rye  Graham,  1,926,795  barrels,  val- 
ued at  $7,801,413;  buckwheat  flour, 
125,622,189  pounds,  valued  at  $3,754,- 
857 ;  barley  meal,  14,000,789  pounds, 
valued  at  $212,343 ;  corn  meal  and  corn 
flour,  16,327,993  barrels,  valued  at  $54,- 
963,301  ;  hominy  and  grits,  870,364,453 
pounds,  valued  at  $13,767,561 ;  oatmeal, 
30,451,581  pounds,  valued  at  $757,804; 
bran  and  middlings,  4,648,930  tons,  val- 
ued at  $104,350,655 ;  feed  and  offal. 
4,753,280  tons,  valued  at  $137,067,959; 
corn  oil,  301,949  gallons,  valued  at 
$152,208 ;  breakfast  foods,  rolled  oats, 
etc.,  92,676,085  pounds,  valued  at  $2,- 
932,238  ;  all  other  cereal  products  were 
valued  at  $2,091,922  and  all  other  prod- 
ucts at  $5,562,000. 

RICE,    CLEANING  AND  POLISHING 

The  total  quantity  of  rough  rice  milled 
during  the  year  1914  was  1,036,587,825 
pounds,  or  23,035,285  bushels  (of  45 
pounds).  Of  this  quantity  1,025,628,075 
pounds  was  of  domestic  production,  and 
10,959,750  pounds  of  foreign. 


MANUFACTURES 


213 


The  amount  of  clean  rice  obtained 
was  674,872,108  pounds,  valued  at  $21,- 
655,105.  This  was  65.1  per  cent,  by 
weight,  of  the  rough  rice  milled.  There 
were  31,053,118  pounds  of  polish,  valued 
at  $352,271,  produced  from  rice  during 
the  year ;  99,403,200  pounds  of  bran, 
valued  at  $772,275 ;  all  other  products 
were  valued  at  $259,643.  Thus  the  total 
value  of  all  products  derived  from  the 
cleansing  and  polishing  of  rice  for  the 
year  1914  amounted  to  $23,039,294. 

BUTTER,    CHEESE    AND    CONDENSED    MILK 

During  the  year  1914  there  were 
7,982  establishments  engaged  in  the  but- 
ter, cheese  and  condensed  milk  indus- 


try, whose  products  were  valued  at 
$370,818,729.  The  quantity  of  milk  con- 
sumed by  these  factories  was  8,431,632,- 
860  pounds,  costing  $114,314,929.  The 
quantity  of  cream  consumed  was  2,383,- 
828.265  pounds,  costing  $160.916.828. 

The  products,  valued  at  $370,818,729, 
were  divided  as  follows :  786,013,489 
pounds  of  butter,  valued  at  $223,179,- 
254;  377,506,109  pounds  of  cheese,  val- 
ued at  $50,931,925  ;  884.646.761  pounds 
of  condensed  and  evaporated  milk,  val- 
ued at  $59,374.948;  21,987,911  pounds 
of  powdered  milk,  valued  at  $2,081,607  ; 
4.051,320  pounds  of  sugar,  valued  at 
$400,613  ;  and  other  products  valued  at 
$34,850,382. 


TEXTILES 


CORDAGE  AND  TWINE  AND  JUTE  AND  LINEN 
GOODS 

The  total  value  of  the  cordage  and 
twine  and  jute  and  linen  goods  produced 
during  the  year  1914  amounted  to  $83,- 
228,424.  There  were  produced  during 
the  year,  487,443,356  pounds  of  rope  and 
binder  twine,  valued  at  $43.085,517 ; 
13,244,198  pounds  of  cotton  rope,  valued 
at  $2,539.906;  105,249,677  pounds  of 
twine,  other  than  binder,  valued  at 
$13,996,522  ;  75.875.322  pounds  of  yarn, 
valued  at  $8,320,186;  5,707,668  pounds 
of  linen  thread,  valued  at  $3,409,136 ; 
131,827,658  square  yards  of  bags  and 
bagging,  valued  at  $6,440.594  ;  3,326,302 
square  yards  of  jute  carpets  and  rugs, 
valued  at  $816.845  ;  and  other  products 
valued  at  $4,619,718. 

FELT  GOODS 

The  cost  of  all  material  required  in 
the  production  of  felt  goods  during  the 
year  1914  was  $6,824,537.  The  total 
value  of  the  products  manufactured  in 
the  establishments  engaged  in  this  in- 
dustry was  $13,692,765.  There  were 
produced  in  that  year,  3.941,795  pounds 
of  endless  felt  belts,  valued  at  $4,164.- 
186;  3,028,286  pounds  of  boot  and  shoe 
linings,  valued  at  $1,512,783  ;  7,431,152 
square  yards  of  trimming  and  lining 
felts,  valued  at  $1,048,583 ;  2,291.662 
pounds  of  saddle  felts,  valued  at  $973,- 
353.  The  remaining  products,  including 
table  and  piano  covers,  felt  cloth,  etc., 
were  valued  at  $5,993,860. 

HATS,   FUR-FELT   AND   WOOL-FELT 

The  output  of  finished  fur-felt  hats 
in  1914  was  2.118,634  dozen,  valued  at 
$33,603,531.  The  total  value  of  the 
products  of  the  fur-felt  industry  was 
$37.349,744. 

The  total  value  of  the  products  of 
the  wool-felt  hat  industry  in  1914  was 
$1,944,484,  of  which  amount,  $1,777,225 
represented  the  value  of  the  381,044 
dozen  wool-felt  hats  produced. 

HOSIERY   AND   KNIT  GOODS 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  1,- 
647  establishments  engaged  in  the  man- 


ufacture of  hosiery  and  knit  goods,  the 
products  of  which  were  valued  at  $263,- 
925,855.  There  were  75.227,704  dozen 
pairs  of  hosiery  produced,  valued 
at  $98,136,265 ;  21,758,775  dozen  shirts 
and  drawers,  valued  at  $57,523,051  ; 
6,283,360  dozen  combination  suits, 
valued  at  $35,630.464;  2.249.142  dozen 
sweaters,  valued  at  $26,195,002  ;  2.470,- 
183  dozen  pairs  of  gloves  and  mittens, 
valued  at  $10.519.613;  987,178  dozen 
hoods,  scarfs,  etc.,  valued  at  $3,456,326  ; 
274,544  dozen  bathing  suits,  valued  at 
$2,033.889  ;  63.264  dozen  shawls,  valued 
at  $713,545,  and  74.901  dozen  pairs  of 
leggings  valued  at  $313,952. 

In  the  production  of  hosiery  and  knit 
goods  there  were  3,076  sets  of  cards 
used ;  852.250  spindles ;  65.32S  sewing 
machines  and  142,240  knitting  machines 
of  all  classes. 

COTTON     GOODS 

The  quantity  of  raw  cotton  consumed 
in  the  1,324  establishments  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods,  dur- 
ing the  year  1914,  was  2,523,500,837 
pounds,  costing  $330,315,223.  The  other 
materials  consumed  were  classified  as 
follows :  Cotton  waste,  54,116,105 
pounds,  costing  $3,542,631  ;  cotton 
yarns,  139,482,027  pounds,  costing  $39,- 
793,131 ;  yarns,  other  than  cotton,  3,- 
309,277  pounds,  costing  $4,793,221,  and 
fibers,  other  than  cotton,  4,276,476 
pounds,  costing  $3,203,262. 

The  total  value  of  the  cotton  goods 
produced  from  these  materials  was 
$701.152,268,  divided  as  follows:  6,815,- 
645,683  square  yards  of  woven  goods, 
valued  at  $488,728,054;  497,986,999 
pounds  of  yarns,  valued  at  $127.363,952  ; 
26,507,023  pounds  of  thread,  valued  at 
$22,917,099,  and  13,284,875  pounds  of 
cordage  and  rope,  valued  at  $2,792,125. 
There  were  317,360,019  pounds  of  cot- 
ton waste,  valued  at  $14,421,929,  on 
hand  at  the  end  of  the  year.  All  other 
products  were  valued  at  $44,037,886. 

The  woven  goods  manufactured  were 
classified  as  follows :  248,539,379 
square  yards  of  ducks,  valued  at  $47,- 
921,989;  489,661,133  square  yards  of 


214 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ginghams,  valued  at  $36,706,542  ;  1,422,- 
787,368  square  yards  of  fancy  weaves, 
valued  at  $131,813,609 ;  263,862.227 
square  yards  of  napped  fabrics,  valued 
at  $24,352,020;  29,128,703  square  yards 
of  velvets,  corduroys,  plushes,  etc.,  val- 
ued at  $8,540,143 ;  75,732,241  square 
yards  of  toweling  and  terry  weaves, 
valued  at  $9,805,232  ;  97,981,783  square 
yards  of  mosquito  netting  and  similar 
fabrics,  valued  at  $2,820,524 ;  129,357,- 
002  square  yards  of  bags  and  bagging 
valued  at  $9,705,616;  10,137,710  square 
yards  of  tapestries,  valued  at  $5,411,592  ; 
and  4,048,458,137  square  yards  of  other 
woven  goods,  valued  at  $211,650,787. 

OILCLOTH    AND    LINOLEUM 

The  total  value  of  the  oilcloth  and 
linoleum  produced  by  the  establishments 
engaged  in  this  industry  in  1914  was 
$25,598,361.  There  was  a  decrease  of 
58.9  per  cent  in  the  manufacture  of 
oilcloth  during  the  year  1914,  over  the 
year  1909,  the  last  census  year,  but 
this  was  more  than  compensated  for  by 
the  increase  of  90.1  per  cent  in  the 
amount  of  linoleum  manufactured.  The 
oilcloth  produced  was  divided  as  fol- 
lows :  7,536,379  square  yards  of  floor 
oilcloth,  valued  at  $1,483,731 ;  18,357,- 
097  square  yards  of  enameled  oilcloth, 
valued  at  $2,495,255 ;  and  59,358,872 
square  yards  of  table,  wall,  shelf  and 
stair  oilcloth,  valued  at  $6,025,348.  The 
linoleum  produced  during  the  same  peri- 
od was  divided  as  follows :  33,306,669 
square  yards  of  plain  linoleum,  valued 


at  $10,043.436,  and  8,479,202  square 
yards  of  inlaid  linoleum,  valued  at  $4,- 
725,837.  All  other  products  were  val- 
ued at  $824,754. 

SILK   AND   SILK  GOODS 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  900 
establishments  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  silk  and  silk  goods,  in  which 
the  following  materials  were  consumed  : 
22,506,759  pounds  of  raw  silk,  costing 
$86,586,878 ;  3,080.750  pounds  of  spun 
silk,  costing  $7,940,156;  1,902,974 
pounds  of  artificial  silk,  costing  $3,440,- 
154 ;  4,328,536  pounds  of  fringe  and 
floss,  including  waste,  noils,  etc.,  cost- 
ing $3,066,297;  3,852,399  pounds  of 
organzine  and  tram,  costing  $16,687,346  ; 
16,869,511  pounds  of  cotton  yarn,  cost- 
ing $6,163.,240;  1,464,299  pounds  of 
mercerized  cotton  yarn,  costing  $1,078.- 
337 ;  1,987,918  pounds  of  woolen  sm«l 
woisted  yarn,  costing  $2.087  804 ;  '*,- 
645,055  pounds  of  mohair  yarn,  costing 
$1,604,362  ;  and  291,672  pounds  of  other 
yarns,  costing  $438,944. 

The  total  value  of  the  finished  prod- 
ucts was  $253,764,170,  the  various  prod- 
ucts being  classified  as  follows :  216,- 
035,696  yards  of  broad  silks,  valued  at 
$137,719.564;  142,713,359  yards,  valued 
at  $96,689,801,  consisting  of  all-silk  goods 
and  73,320,337  yards,  valued  at  $41,- 
029.763,  consisting  of  mixed  silk  goods  ; 
16,318,135  yards  of  velvets,  valued  at 
$8,570,022;  9,114,992  yards  of  plushes. 
\alued  at  $10.135,842;  477.69!)  yards 
of  upholsteries  and  tapestries,  valued  at 


CEI  Regions  producing  Silk 
Regions  exporting  Silk 
Where  Silk  Worm  is  found  Wild 


WORLD'S  SILK  PRODUCTION 


MANUFACTURES 


215 


$840,126;  ribbons  to  the  value  of  $38,- 
201,293 ;  laces,  nets,  veils,  etc.,  to  the 
value  of  $1,328,933  ;  embroideries  to  the 
value  of  $33,500  ;  fringes  and  gimps  to 
the  value  of  $1,025,188;  braids  and 
bindings  to  the  value  of  $3,073,648 ; 
tailors'  trimmings  to  the  value  of  $210,- 
741 ;  military  trimmings  to  the  value  of 
$431,422;  659,540  pounds  of  machine 
twist  silk,  valued  at  $4,036,807 ;  744, 
708  pounds  of  sewing  and  embroidery 
silks,  valued  at  $5,046,452;  157,791 
pounds  of  fringe  and  floss  silks,  valued 
at  $598,354  ;  1,492,999  pounds  of  organ- 
zine,  valued  at  $6,325,291 ;  2,577.402 
pounds  of  tram,  valued  at  $9,698,637, 
and  1,607,416  pounds  of  spun  silk,  val- 
ued at  $4,577.058.  Other  products  were 
valued  at  $13,516,248. 

There  were  in  use,  during  the  year,  a 
total  of  2,794,971  spindles,  85.058  looms 
of  all  kinds,  and  6,826  jacquard  ma- 
chines. 

WOOLEN  AND  WORSTED  GOODS 
The  total  value  of  all  the  products  of 
the  795  establishments  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  woolen  and  worsted 
goods,  during  the  year  1914,  was  $379,- 
484,379  as  follows :  90,950.381  square 
yards  of  all-wool  woolen  fabrics,  valued 
at  $55,660,503  ;  222.327,115  square  yards 
of  all-wool  worsted  fabrics,  valued  at 
$141,778,035  ;  47,398,289  square  yards  of 
cotton-warp  woolen  fabrics,  valued  at 
$13.598,007;  54.067,018  square  yards  of 
cotton-warp  worsted  fabrics,  valued  at 
$14,897,757;  31,400,082  square  yards  of 


cotton-mixed  fabrics,  valued  at  $11,710,- 
610;  2,176,264  square  yards  of  all-wool 
flannels  for  underwear,  valued  at  $880,- 
494 ;  4,995,575  square  yards  of  cotton 
mixed  flannels  for  underwear,  valued  at 
$1,089,661;  16,092.266  square  yards  of 
domett  flannels  and  shirtings,  valued  at 
$2,814,054;  36,196,243  square  yards  of 
linings,  Italian  cloth  and  lastings,  valued 
at  $9,804,661 ;  8,415,079  square  yards 
of  satinets  and  linseys,  valued  at  $1.- 
535,291 ;  30,400,973  square  yards  of 
blankets,  valued  at  $9,264.768;  8,164,- 
672  square  yards  of  horse  blankets,  val- 
ued at  $2,017,782  ;  514,226  square  yards 
of  carriage  cloth,  valued  at  $443,223; 
1,658,865  square  yards  of  carriage  robes, 
valued  at  $1,233,555;  121,213  square 
yards  of  woven  shawls,  valued  at  $66,- 
365 ;  1,351,262  square  yards  of  uphol- 
stery goods,  valued  at  $1.539,381,  and 
3,569.709  square  yards  of  all  other 
woven  goods,  valued  at  $1,219,382. 
Woolen,  worsted,  merino,  mohair  and 
cotton  yarns,  noils  and  wool  waste  and 
tops  and  stubbing  made  for  sale  were 
valued  at  $101,137,599;  all  other  prod- 
ucts were  valued  at  $5,356,615.  The 
amount  received  for  contract  work  was 
$5.436,636. 

There  were  in  operation  during  the 
year  4.220  sets  of  woolen  cards.  2,348,- 
722  mule  spinning  spindles,  1,531,862 
frame  spinning  spindles,  841.449  doub- 
ling and  twisting  spindles,  56,392  broad 
looms,  19.415  narrow  looms,  13  hand 
looms,  2,294  wool-combing  machines,  1,- 
201  pickers  and  165  garnet  machines. 


IRON  AND   STEEL  MANUFACTURES 


BLAST   FURNACES 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  284 
active  pig-iron  blast  furnaces  in  opera-/ 
tion.  The  pig-iron  products  of  the  160 
establishments  operating  these  furnaces 
aggregated  23,269,731  tons,  valued  at 
$312,639,706,  and  the  value  of  other 
products  amounted  to  $4,919,347,  making 
a  total  of  $317.559,053.  The  amount 
of  iron  ore  used  was  43,362,817  tons, 
costing  $150,975,741.  The  consumption 
of  mill  cinder,  scale,  scrap,  etc.,  was 
2,168,092  tons,  costing  $6,651.055;  flux- 
ing material,  11,499.685  tons,  costing 
$11,184,378;  coke,  the  chief  fuel  for 
smelting,  26,883,382  tons,  costing  $83,- 
499,448;  charcoal,  29,083,978  bushels, 
costing  $1,683,075 ;  and  coal,  both  an- 
thracite and  bituminous,  99,251  tons, 
costing  $254.007.  The  smelting  fuels 
consumed  cost  $85.436.530. 

Of  the  total  production  of  23,269.731 
tons  of  pig-iron,  15,495,004  tons  were 
for  the  use  of  the  producers  and  7,- 
774.747  tons  for  sale.  The  pig-iron  prod- 
uct by  grades  for  the  year  1914  was  as 
follows :  Basic,  9.465,853  tons ;  Bes- 
semer and  low  phosphorus,  7,883,530 
tons;  foundry,  4,325,100  tons;  mallea- 
ble, 730,910  tons ;  forge  or  mill,  488,172 '. 
tons ;  white,  mottled  and  miscellaneous, 


32,202  tons;  direct  castings,  14,384  tons 
and  ferro-alloys,  329,580  tons. 

STEEL  WORKS  AND  ROLLING  MILLS 

The  consumption  of  pig-iron  and  ferro- 
alloys by  the  436  establishments  pro- 
ducing steel  and  hot-rolled  iron  and 
steel  manufactures  as  their  chief  prod- 
ucts amounted  to  17,060,940  tons  in 
1914,  the  cost  of  these  materials  being 
$248.393.208.  The  plants  consumed  ap- 
proximately 10,645.000  tons  of  scrap,  of 
which  amount  5,065,090  tons  were  pur- 
chased at  a  cost  of  $59.301.614,  and 
5,579,422  tons  were  produced  in  the 
works  where  consumed.  The  consump- 
tion of  iron  ore  amounted  to  999.459 
tons,  costing  $4,252,087.  In  addition, 
6,440.742  tons  of  steel  ingots,  rails  for 
rerolling  and  partly  finished  rolled 
products,  such  as  blooms,  billets,  slabs, 
muck  and  scrap  bar,  sheet  and  tin- 
plate  bars,  etc.,  produced  in  certain 
mills,  were  purchased  by  others  at  a 
cost  of  $131,967,265. 

PRODUCTS 

The  total  products  of  the  steel  works 
and  rolling  mills  for  the  year  1914 
were  valued  at  $919,527,244.  The  rolled, 
forged  and  other  classified  iron  and  steel 
products  aggregated  25,586,715  tons, 


216 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS   RESOURCES 


TAKING  ON  A  CARGO  OF  PIG  IRON  BY  MEANS  OF  ELECTRIC  LIFTING  MAGNETS. 
NOTE  HOW  THE  PIGS  FLY  TO   THE  MAGNET 


valued  at  $802,976,516,  comprising  18,- 
526,342  tons  of  finished  rolled  products 
and  forgings,  valued  at  $624,754,421 ; 
6,408,030  tons  of  partly  finished  rolled 
products — blooms,  billets,  slabs,  sheet 
bars,  tin-plate  bars,  muck  bar,  and  scrap 
bar — valued  at  $130,674,909,  and  652,- 
343  tons  of  unrolled  steel  in  the  form 
of  ingots  and  castings,  valued  at  $47,- 
547,136. 

The  finished  rolled  products  and  forg- 
ings produced  during  the  year  1914  were 
classified  as  follows:  Rails,  1,842.041 
tons,  valued  at  $54,009,918;  rerolled  or 
renewed  rails,  63.671  tons,  valued  at 
$1,438,237  ;  rail  fastenings  (splice  bars, 
tie-plates,  fish-plates,  etc.),  348,947 
tons,  valued  at  $11,526,956 ;  structural 
shapes  (not  including  plates  used  for 
making  girders),  2,083,440  tons,  valued 
at  $5*T,475,366 ;  bars  for  reinforced  con- 
crete, 269.966  tons,  valued  at  $7,751,- 
549  ;  merchant  bars,  2.474,677  tons,  val- 
ued at  $84.407,700  ;  spike  and  chain  rods, 
bolt  and  nut  rods,  horseshoe  bars,  strips, 
etc.,  536.575  tons,  valued  at  $18,343,812 ; 
wire  rods,  2,377,691  tons,  valued  at  $61,- 
578.145;  plates  and  sheets,  3,699,249 
tons,  valued  at  $129,785,963;  black 
plates,  1,011,938  tons,  valued  at  $43.- 
147,041 ;  hoops,  bands  and  cotton  ties, 
603,940  tons,  valued  at  $19.945,078; 
skelp,  flue  and  pipe,  1,960,844  tons, 
valued  at  $52,443,303;  nail  and  tack 
plate,  50,302  tons,  valued  at  $2,008,308  ; 
axles,  rolled  and  forged,  89,418  tons, 
valued  at  $3,311,202  ;  armor  plates,  gun 
forgings,  and  ordnance,  38,669  tons, 
valued  at  $19,947,893 ;  car  and  locomo- 
tive wheels,  rolled  or  forged,  137,895 
tons,  valued  at  7,435.798;  all  other 
rolled  products,  481,779  tons,  valued 
at  $29,689,872;  and  all  other  forged 
products,  411,402  tons,  valued  at  $19,- 
165,900. 

AGRICULTURAL    IMPLEMENTS 

The  total  products  of  the  772  estab- 
lishments engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  agricultural  implements  during  the 
year  1914  were  valued  at  $168.120.632. 
The  various  agricultural  implements 
manufactured  comprised  3,318,176  im- 


plements of  cultivation,  valued  at  $39,- 
632,903 ;  634,926  planters  and  seeders, 
valued  at  $12,268,156;  1,102,389  har- 
vesting implements,  valued  at  $40,561,- 
472;  and  140,803  seed  separators,  val- 
ued at  $13,986,184.  All  other  products, 
including  parts  for  all  classes  of  agri- 
cultural implements,  were  valued  at  $60,- 
211,327.  The  amount  received  for  rr 
pair  work  was  $1,460,590.  , 
WIRE 

The  total  products  of  wire  drawing 
establishments  in  1914  were  valued  at 
$172,600,587,  of  which  amount  $166,- 
999,888  represented  the  value  of  wire 
and  manufactures  of  wire,  $2.581,000 
represented  the  value  of  finished  prod- 
ucts other  than  wire  and  wire  products 
and  $3,019,699  represented  the  value 
of  all  other  products,  including  scrap, 
copperas,  etc. 

The  total  quantity  of  steel  and  iron 
wire  drawn  in  1914  was  2,465,383  tons, 
valued  at  $116,215,503,  and  included 
459,909  tons  of  plain  wire,  valued  at 
$22,316,778;  374.478  tons  of  coated 
wire,  valued  at  $15,949,531;  12,886,634 
tons  of  wire  nails  and  spikes,  valued  at 
$23,368,633;  33,335  tons  of  wire  brads, 
tacks  and  staples,  valued  at  $1,324,948 ; 
343,693  tons  of  barbed  wire,  valued  at 
$13,764,367;  52,735  tons  of  wire  rope 
and  strand,  valued  at  $7,973,537;  411.- 
460  tons  of  woven-wire  fence  and  poul- 
try netting,  valued  at  $19,795,812;  22,- 
721  tons  of  other  woven-wire  products, 
valued  at  $2,822,689;  and  122,720  tons 
of  other  fabricated  iron  and  steel  wire 
products,  valued  at  $8,899,208. 

The  total  quantity  of  copper  wire 
drawn  was  135,437  to'ns,  valued  at 
$42,928,550,  and  included  84,921  tons 
of  bare  wire,  valued  at  $26,206,024; 
48.386  tons  of  insulated  wire,  valued  at 
$15,709,244;  and  2,130  tons  of  woven 
and  other  fabricated  copper-wire  prod- 
ucts, valued  at  $1,013,282. 

There  were  also  produced  39,614,500 
pounds  of  brass  wire  and  wire  products, 
valued  at  $6,366,342;  749,224  pounds 
of  German-silver  wire,  valued  at  $238,- 
078;  and  vrire  of  other  metals  and  al- 


MANUFACTURES 


217 


loys — brdinze,  zinc,  nickel  and  nickel 
alloys,  and  copper-clad  steel — to  the  val- 
ue of  $1,251,415. 

TIN    AND    TERNE    PLATE 

There  were  31  establishments  engaged 
in  the  tin  and  terne  plate  industry  in 
1914  whose  output  of  coated  plates 
amounted  to  2,039.566,144  pounds,  val- 
ued at  $66,270,345,  comprising  1,901,- 
331,895  pounds  of  tin  plate,  valued  at 
$60,258,024,  and  138,234,249  pounds  of 
terne  plate  (steel  or  iron  plates  or  sheets 
coated  with  an  alloy  of  tin  and  lead, 
known  as  terne  mixture),  valued  at  $6.- 
012,321.  The  tin-plate  product  com- 
prised 1,855,892,526  pounds  of  coke 
plate,  valued  at  $58,450,853,  and  45.439.- 
369  pounds  of  charcoal  plate  (steel  and 
iron),  valued  at  $1,807,171.  The  value 
of  all  other  products  was  $2,072.617, 


making   a    total   of   $68,342,962    for   the 
value  of  all   products  in   1914. 

CAST    IRON    PIPE 

The  cast-iron  pipe  product  of  1914 
comprised  1,092,208  net  tons,  valued  at 
$25,391,714,  consisting  of  880,556  tons 
of  gas  and  water  pipe  and  fittings,  val- 
ued at  $19,218,006,  and  211,652  tons  of 
soH  and  plumbers'  pipe  and  fittings, 
valued  at  $6,173,708.  The  gas  and 
water-pipe  output  was  made  up  of  802.- 
967  tons  of  bell  and  spigot  pipe,  valued 
at  $16,228,587 ;  25.192  tons  of  flanged 
pipe,  valued  at  $645.707 ;  12,011  tons 
of  culvert  pipe,  valued  at  $246,527  ;  and 
40,386  tons  of  fittings,  valued  at  $2,- 
097,185.  In  addition,  there  were  pro- 
duced 26,199  tons  of  castings  other 
than  pipe  and  fittings,  valued  at  $741,- 
381,  and  products  other  than  castings, 
valued  at  $1,441,678. 


TRANSPORTATION 


STEAM     AND     ELECTRIC     RAILROAD     CARS 

During  the  yenr  1914  there  wero 
138,178  steam  and  electric  cars,  valued 
at  $165,071,427,  built  in  the  United 
States.  Of  this  number.  3,558  were 
steam-passenger  cars,  valued  at  $45.- 
027,083  and  131,799  were  freight  and 
other  cars,  valued  at  $110,002.456.  The 
number  of  electric  cars  manufactured 
was  2,821,  and  their  value  was  $10,- 
041,888.  For  more  detailed  information 
relative  to  the  construction  of  railroad 
cars,  locomotives,  etc.,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  special  chapter  on  "Rail- 
roads of  the  United  States." 

CARRIAGES    AND    WAGONS    AND    MATERIALS 

The  total  value  of  the  carriages  and 
wagons  and  materials  manufactured  in 
1914  was  $135,792.357.  There  were 
1,187.002  vehicles  of  all  classes,  valued 
at  $72,283.989,  including  558,402  car- 
riages, valued  at  $34.193.518;  572,613 
wagons,  valued  at  $36.533.152;  1.287 
public  conveyances,  valued  at  $325.269  ; 
and  54,700  sleighs  and  sleds,  valued  at 
$1,231,959.  Other  products,  parts,  re- 
pairs, etc.,  were  valued  at  $63.508,459. 
There  was  a  decrease  of  25.1  per  cent 
in  the  production  of  vehicles  during 
1914  over  1909,  due  to  the  inroad  of  the 
automobile  into  the  carriage  and  wagon 
industry.  This  has  been  greater  with 
respect  to  pleasure  vehicles  than  to 
those  used  for  business  purposes. 

SHIPBUILDING 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  1,- 
145  establishments  engaged  in  the  ship- 
building and  boatbuilding  industry, 
whose  products — that  is,  construction 


and  repair  work  done — during  the  year, 
were  valued  at  $88,682,071.  The  value 
of  work  done  on  new  vessels  of  five  gross 
tons  and  over  was  $42,545.445,  of  which 
amount  $36,295,758  represented  the  val- 
ue of  work  done  on  iron  and  steam  ves- 
sels and  $6.249,687  the  value  of  work 
done  on  wooden  vessels.  •  The  value  of 
work  done  on  boats  of  less  than  five 
gross  tons  was  $3.788.689.  The  value  of 
repairs  made  in  1914  was  $32,835,212. 
All  other  products  were  valued  at  $9,- 
512,725. 

The  total  number  of  vessels  of  five 
gross  tons  and  over  launched  during 
1914  was  1,113  with  a  gross  tonnage  of 
424.660.  There  were  launched  126  iron 
and  steel  vessels  with  a  gross  tonnage  of 
242.559 ;  and  987  wooden  vessels  with 
a  gross  tonnage  of  182,101.  Classified 
according  to  power,  there  were  launched 
140  steam  vessels,  gross  tonnage  234,- 
636 ;  427  motor-driven  boats,  gross  ton- 
nage 13.220 ;  40  sailing  vessels,  gross 
tonnage  2.224,  and  506  unrigged  vessels, 
gross  tonnage  174,580.  There  were  3,- 
706  power  boats  of  less  than  five  gross 
tons  launched  during  the  year. 

MOTORCYCLES,    BICYCLES    AND    PARTS 

The  total  value  of  the  motorcycles, 
bicycles  and  parts  manufactured  during 
1914  was  $25,486,942.  There  were  man- 
ufactured 62,793  motorcycles,  valued  at 
$12,306,447,  an  increase  in  number  of 
237.1  per  cent  over  the  year  1909.  and 
398,899  bicycles,  valued  at  $5,361,229. 

AUTOMOBILES 

A  special  chapter  on  "Automobiles" 
is  given  as  under  Chapter  XVIII. 


THE  ELECTRICAL  INDUSTRY 


ELECTRICAL    MACHINERY,    APPARATUS    AND 
SUPPLIES 

There  were  1,121  establishments  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  electrical- 
machinery  apparatus,  during  the  year 


1914,  whose  products,  for  the  year,  were 
valued   at   $359,412,676. 

The  output  of  dynamos,  including 
parts  and  supplies,  in  1914  was  valued 
at  $23,233,437.  This  includes  dynamo- 


218 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


tors,  motor-generators,  boosters,  rotary 
converters,  double-current  generators, 
etc.,  8,393  in  number,  with  an  aggregate 
capacity  of  780,009  kilowatts  and  val- 
ued at  $5,367,895  ;  208,548  small  direct- 
current  dynamos  and  automobile  self- 
starters,  valued  at  $5,933,273 ;  9,633 
direct-current  dynamos,  including  gen- 
erators for  direct  connection  to  steam 
turbines,  with  an  aggregate  capacity  of 
221,221  kilowatts  and  valued  at  $2,- 
967,467;  2,512  alternating  current  dy- 
namos, including  generators  for  direct 
connection  to  steam  turbines,  with  an 
aggregate  capacity  of  1,188,005  kilo- 
watts and  a  value  of  $7,437,445.  The 
transformers  manufactured  in  1914  ag- 
gregated 115,843  in  number,  with  2,- 
644,794  kilowatts  capacity,  and  were 
valued  at  $13,120,065.  There  were  110,- 
177  machines  of  less  than  50-kilowatt 
capacity,  valued  at  $7,316,615 ;  4,857 


speed-controlling  devices,  feeder-poten- 
tial regulators,  reactances,  voltage  regu- 
lators, and  rectifying  apparatus  to  the 
value  of  $9,936,343 ;  light  and  power 
switchboards,  panel  boards  and  cut-out 
cabinets,  valued  at  $8,989,111 ;  batter- 
ies, storage  and  primaries,  and  parts  and 
supplies,  $23,402,455 ;  lamps,  $17,350,- 
385 ;  arc  lamps,  searchlights,  projectors 
and  focusing  lamps,  $2,823,687 ;  tele- 
phones, telephone  switchboards,  and 
parts  and  supplies,  $22,815,640 ;  tele- 
graph apparatus,  including  wireless, 
switchboards,  and  parts  and  supplies, 
$2,248,375 ;  electric  heating  apparatus, 
including  air  heaters,  cooking  devices, 
flat-irons,  and  welding  apparatus,  $4,- 
034,436  ;  electric  measuring  instruments, 
$8,786,506;  electrical  therapeutic  ap- 
paratus, $2,653,098  ;  insulated  wires  and 
cables,  $69,505,573 ;  electric  conduits, 
underground  and  interior,  $4,874,709 ; 


Interior  of   Station;    Capacity  250 
lamps 


First    Central    Station,     Appleton 
Wis.,    1882 


Edison  dynamo    of   1883 
THE    FIRST    CENTRAL    POWER    STATION    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


of  from  50  to  500-kilowatt  capacity, 
valued  at  $2,625,414 ;  and  809  of  500 
kilowatts  and  over,  valued  at  $3,178,036. 

The  output  of  motors,  including  parts 
and  supplies,  was  valued  at  $44,176,235. 
This  includes  417,992  motors  for  in- 
dustrial power  and  for  railway  use,  with 
an  aggregate  capacity  of  2.882,795  horse- 
power, and  a  value  of  $32,"2S"6,149  ;  11,- 
880  motors  for  automobiles,  having  an 
aggregate  horse-power  of  36,858  and 
valued  at  $1,351,442 ;  motors  for  fans 
to  the  value  of  $4,835,850  and  miscel- 
laneous motors  valued  at  $1,190,564. 

Other  products  were :  Rheostats,  re- 
sistances, controllers,  motor-starting  and 


magneto-ignition  apparatus,  spark  plugs, 
coils,  etc.,  $22,260,847  ;  electric  switches, 
signals  and  attachments,  $6,393,551 ; 
carbons  for  furnace,  lighting,  brushes, 
battery,  etc.,  $3,602,741 ;  annunciators, 
$263,806;  electric  clocks  and  time 
mechanisms,  $410,774 ;  and  various 
other  kinds  of  electric  equipment,  in- 
cluding sockets,  receptacles  and  bases, 
some  electric  lighting  fixtures,  lightning 
arresters,  fuses,  circuit  fittings,  and  un- 
classified electric  machinery,  apparatus 
and  supplies,  $44.907,658.  The  last 
item  includes  electric  locomotives,  mine 
and  railway,  of  which  there  were  900 
valued  at  $3,720,914. 


MANUFACTURES 


219 


THE  LEATHER  INDUSTRY 


There  were  tanned  during  the  year 
1914,  138,547,692  hides  and  skins,  as 
follows  :  17,457,591  cattle  hides,  costing 
$148,751,002.  16,067,793  calf  and  kip 
skins,  costing  $33,117,713 ;  37,755,867 
goat  and  kid  skins,  costing  $23,916,965  ; 
40,090,198  sheep  and  lamb  skins,  cost- 
ing $19,247,682,  and  1,250,245  horse- 
hides,  1,095,360  kangaroo  skins,  233,180 
colt  skins  and  a  number  of  hog,  pig, 
deer,  buck,  seal,  dog,  alligator,  shark, 
elk,  moose  and  other  skins,  costing 
$8,414,129. 

The  leather  products,  valued  at  $348,- 
956,872,  were  divided  as  follows :  18,- 
097,665  sides  of  sole  leather,  valued  at 
$116,347,196;  973,591  belting  butts, 
valued  at  $12,876,554;  2,943,720  sides 
of  harness  leather,  valued  at  $21,745,- 
808  ;  upholstery — automobile,  furniture 
and  carriage — leather  to  the  value  of 
$14,328,358  ;  bookbinders'  leather  to  the 
value  of  $1,362,673;  8,245,964  sides  of 
cattle  side  upper  leathert  valued  at 
$32,939,139;  965,350  sides  of  horse 
leather,  valued  ati  $2,881,924 ;  glove 
leather  to  the  value  of  $3,286,352; 
rough  leather  to  the  value  of  $4,511.251 ; 
66,368,840  skins  of  upper  leather, 
valued  at  $85,051,550;  7,698,452  skins 
of  patent  leather,  valued  at  $15,- 
590,812;  7,486,260  skins  of  fancy 
leather,  valued  at  $8,775,968;  1,004,581 
sides  of  case,  bag  and  strap  leather, 
valued  at  $5,383,255;  1,948,533  skins 
of  chamois,  valued  at  $925,492  ;  and  all 
other  leather — lace,  collar,  saddlery, 
suspender,  piano  action  leather,  etc. — 
to  the  value  of  $21,249,116. 

LEATHER    GLOVES    AND    MITTENS 

During  the  year  1914,  there  were  352 
establishments  engaged  in  the  leather 
glove  and  mitten  industry  with  products 
valued  at  $21,614,109.  There  were  pro- 
duced 3,082,376  dozen  pairs  of  gloves, 


mittens  and  gauntlets,  valued  at  $20,- 
296.558,  and  other  products  to  the  value 
of  $20,296,558. 

The  production  of  men's  gloves,  mit- 
tens and  gauntlets  was  2,367,263  dozen 
pairs,  valued  at  $15.334,605.  of  which 
1,571,649  dozen  pairs,  valued  at  $11,- 
286,861,  were  unlined ;  594,880  dozen 
pairs,  valued  at  $3,584,118,  were  lined  ; 
and  200,734  dozen  pairs,  valued  at  $463,- 
626,  were  part  leather  and  part  fabric. 
Of  the  425,501  dozen  pairs  of  women's 
and  children's  gloves,  mittens  and  gaunt- 
lets, 325,530  dozen  pairs,  valued  at  $3,- 
196,761,  were  unlined,  and  99,971  dozen 
pairs,  valued  at  $766,409,  were  lined. 
Of  the  289,612  dozen  pairs  of  boys' 
gloves,  mittens  and  gauntlets,  51,797 
dozen  pairs,  valued  at  $199,630  were  un- 
lined, and  237,815  dozen  pairs,  valued 
at  $799,153,  were  lined. 

FOOTWEAR 

The  1,355  establishments  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  footwear,  during 
1914,  produced  a  total  of  292.666.468 
pairs  of  footwear,  valued  at  $501,707.937. 
The  total  output  of  boots  and  shoes 
amounted  to  252,516,603  pairs,  of  which 
98,031,144  pairs  were  for  men  ;  22,895,- 
719  pairs  for  boys  and  youths  ;  80,916.- 
239  pairs  for  women,  and  48,322,395 
pairs  for  misses  and  children.  There 
were  produced  2,351,106  pairs  of  fiber 
shoes  of  all  classes.  The  output  of 
slippers,  not  including  infants'  slippers 
and  slippers  made  from  felt  or  other 
fiber,  amounted  to  17,733,689  pairs.  Of 
tills  number,  3,666.972  pairs  were  for 
men,  boys  and  youths  and  14,066,717 
pairs  were  for  women,  misses  and  chil- 
dren. The  output  of  infants'  shoes  and 
slippers  was  15,476,763  pairs.  The  out- 
put of  all  other  footwear,  including  ath- 
letic, sporting,  logging  and  mining  shoes, 
sandals,  and  felt  and  other  fiber  slip- 
pers, was  6,939,413  pairs. 


PAPER,    PRINTING    AND    PUBLISHING 


PAPER     AND     WOOD     PULP 

The  production  of  wood  pulp  in  1914 
amounted  to  2,894,650  tons.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  domestic  production  there 
were  used  534.395  tons  of  imported 
pulp.  Other  materials  used  were  as  fol- 
lows :  371,346  tons  of  rags,  1,577,845 
tons  of  waste  paper,  121,230  tons  of 
rope,  jute,  bagging,  threads,  etc.,  and 
309,345  tons  of  straw. 

The  total  value  of  the  paper  produced 
in  1914  was  $294,355.875  and  was  di- 
vided as  follows :  1.313,284  tons  of 
news  paper,  valued  at  $52,942,774  ;  786,- 
626  tons  of  plain  book  paper,  valued  at 
$58,496,626;  117,342  tons  of  coated 
book  paper,  valued  at  $11,605,584  ;  9,332 
tons  of  plate,  lithograph,  map,  wood 
cut  book  paper,  valued  at  $588,332  ;  21,- 
679  tons  of  book  cover  paper,  valued  at 


$2.809,377 ;  83.010  tons  of  cardboard, 
bristol  board,  card  middles,  tickets,  etc.. 
valued  at  $5,376,434;  247,728  tons  of 
fine  paper,  valued  at  $34,054,918,  in- 
cluding 195,351  tons  of  writing  paper, 
valued  at  $28.637,257 ;  881,799  tons  of 
wrapping  paper,  valued  at  $49,372.753; 
1,288,527  tons  of  wood  pulp,  straw, 
news  and  binders'  board,  and  all  other 
board,  valued  at  $41,870,947;  121,598 
tons  of  tissue  paper,  valued  at  $11,535,- 
720  ;  14,157  tons  of  blotting  paper,  val- 
ued at  $1.457,897  ;  243,908  tons  of  build- 
ing (roofing,  asbestos  and  sheathing) 
paper,  valued  at  $9,475,733  ;  96,527  tons 
of  hanging  papers,  valued  at  $4,488,910 ; 
and  130,459  tons  of  miscellaneous  pa- 
per, valued  at  $9,890,641.  All  other 
products  manufactured  for  sale  were 
valued  at  $40,558,708. 


220 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


PRINTING    AND    PUBLISHING 

During  the  year  1914  there  were 
31,612  establishments  engaged  in  print- 
ing and  publishing,  of  which  number 
12,115  were  engaged  chiefly  in  the  print- 
ing and  publishing  of  books  and  pamph- 
lets, or  in  job  printing,  180  in  the 
printing  and  publishing  of  music  and 
19,317  in  the  printing  and  publishing 
of  newspapers  and  periodicals. 

The  total  value  of  products  for  1914, 
of  establishments  printing  and  publish- 
ing newspapers  and  periodicals,  was 
$495,905,984.  The  revenues  of  the  news- 
paper establishments  comprised  news- 
paper subscriptions  and  sales,  $99,541,- 
860;  newspaper  advertising,  $184,047,- 
106 ;  subscriptions  and  sales  of  periodi- 
cals other  than  newspapers,  $64.035,- 
230 ;  and  advertising  in  such  periodicals, 
$71,906,976. 

The  value  of  products  of  establish- 
ments" engaged  chiefly  in  book  and  job 
work  of  all  kinds  aggregated  $307,330,- 
861.  The  total  receipts  for  job  print- 
ing, for  the  entire  printing  and  pub- 


lishing industry,  were  $249,730,932 ;  for 
books  and  pamphlets,  $87,316,348;  for 
bookbinding  and  blank  books,  $15,097,- 
109  ;  for  electrotyping,  engraving,  litho- 
graphing, etc.,  $9,698,641 ;  for  machine 
composition  for  others,  $5,682,098 ;  for 
ready  prints  (patent  insides  and  out- 
sides),  $1,965,210;  and  for  all  other 
products,  $13,860,525.  The  receipts  from 
music  printing  and  publishing  for  the 
entire  industry  were  $7,626,076. 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  22,- 
745  newspapers  and  periodicals  pub- 
lished. There  were  2,580  daily  news- 
papers with  an  aggregate  circulation  of 
28,436,030;  570  Sunday  papers,  with  a 
circulation  of  16,445,820;  84  triweekly 
newspapers,  with  a  circulation  of  549,- 
495 ;  583  semiweekly  newspapers,  with 
a  circulation  of  2,483,629  ;  15,166  week- 
ly newspapers,  with  a  circulation  of  50.- 
454,738 ;  2,820  monthly  publications, 
with  a  circulation  of  79.190,838;  500 
quarterly  publications,  with  a  circula- 
tion of  18,852,401 ;  and  442  other  pub- 
lications, with  a  circulation  of  8,946,567. 


CHEMICAL  AND  ALLIED  PRODUCTS 


CHEMICALS 

The  value  of  the  chemical  products 
produced  in  1914  was  as  follows  :  Acids, 
$30,001,364;  alums,  $3,467,969;  bleach- 
ing materials,  $4,964,403  ;  cyanides,  $2,- 
398,674;  plastics,  $13,895,784;  sodas, 
$22,616,696 ;  sodium  products,  $8,280,- 
572 ;  compressed  or  liquefied  gases,  $8,- 
097,720 ;  chemicals  produced  with  the 
aid  of  electricity,  $29,661.649 ;  potash 
and  potassium  salts,  $4,094,927 ;  coal- 
tar  products,  $8,839,506 ;  fine  chemicals 
— that  is,  chemicals  sold  in  the  trade  as 
chemically  pure,  such  as  ether,  chloro- 
form, etc. — $10.316,519,  and  general 
chemical  products,  $47,796,271. 

In  addition  to  the  allied  products 
which  are  treated  below  in  some  detail, 
there  were  produced  essential  oils  to  the 
value  of  $2,565,361 ;  refined  petroleum 
to  the  value  of  $396.361,405  and  prod- 
ucts of  wood  distillation  to  the  value  of 
$10,236,332. 

DYESTUFFS   AND   EXTRACTS 

The  total  products  of  the  dyestuff  and 
extract  industry  in  1914  were  valued 
at  $21,341.122  and  included  dyestuffs 
valued  at  $7.118,528,  tanning  materials 
valued  at  $7.840,057,  mordants,  assis- 
tants, and  sizes  valued  at  $5,044,225, 
and  other  products  to  the  value  of  $1,- 
338,312. 

EXPLOSIVES 

The  total  production  of  explosives, 
excluding  exports,  in  the  United  States 
during  1915  was  460,900,796  pounds,  as 
follows :  Black  blasting  powder,  197,- 
722,300  pounds ;  "high"  explosives,  235,- 
828,587  pounds ;  and  permissible  ex- 
plosives, 27,349,909  pounds. 


FERTILIZERS 

The  output  of  fertilizers  in  1914  ag- 
gregated 8,414,959  net  tons,  valued  at 
$152,815,786,  consisting  of  4,488,565 
tons  of  complete  fertilizers,  valued  at 
$97,046,825;  1,116,739  tons  of  ammoni- 
ated  fertilizers,  valued  at  $24,344,271 ; 
1,760,290  tons  of  superphosphates,  acid 
phosphates,  and  concentrated  phos- 
phates, valued  at  $16,145,659 ;  and  1,- 
049,365  tons  of  other  fertilizers,  valued 
•at  $15,279,031.  In  addition,  there  were 
manufactured  for  sale  other  products  to 
the  value  of  $15,572,619,  including  oil, 
glue,  grease,  bone  black,  sulphuric  acid, 
chemicals,  etc. 

PAINTS   AND  VARNISHES 

The  principal  materials  used  by  the 
855  establishments  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  paints  and  varnishes  in  1914 
were  as  follows :  149,968  tons  (2,000 
pounds  each)  of  pig  lead,  costing  $11,- 
424,544;  887,273  gallons  of  grain  al- 
cohol, costing  $360,737  ;  919.581  gallons 
of  wood  alcohol,  costing  $387,539 ;  24,- 
025,502  gallons  of  linseed  oil,  costing 
$11,843,236;  and  48.113,516  pounds  of 
gum,  costing  4,662,972. 

The  total  value  of  the  products  from 
these  materials  was  $149,049,820  and  in- 
cluded colors  or  pigments,  valued  at 
$17,407,955;  oil  paints,  valued  at  $70,- 
582,461 ;  water  paints  and  kalsomine, 
valued  at  $2,202,281 ;  varnishes  and 
japans,  valued  at  $36,061,203;  fillers, 
including  putty,  valued  at  $3,239,174 ; 
bleached  shellac,  valued  at  $1,806,802 ; 
and  other  products  valued  at  $17,- 
749.944. 

The  production  of  white  lead  was 
247,971,503  pounds,  of  which  71,643,812 


MANUFACTURES 


221 


pounds,  valued  at  $3,697,702,  was  mar- 
keted dry,  and  199,726,280  pounds  was 
made  into  and  marketed  in  the  form  of 
paint.  The  total  production  of  lead 
was  61,335,290  pounds,  of  which  58,- 
642,588  pounds,  valued  at  $3,281,716, 
was  sold  as  lead  oxides. 

TURPENTINE   AND   ROSIN 

The  total  output  of  the  1,392  tur- 
pentine distilleries  in  operation  in  1914 
was  valued  at  $20,968,684  and  consisted 
of  26,980,981  gallons  of  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, valued  at  $10,510,407 ;  2,885,- 
077  barrels  of  rosin,  valued  at  $10,332,- 
700;  and  dross,  valued  at  $125,577. 
SOAP 

The    products    of    the    513    establish- 
ments   engaged    in    the    manufacture    of 


soap  during  1914  were  valued  at  $135,- 
340,499.  The  soap  products  were  valued 
at  $107,030,620  and  other  products,  in- 
cluding glycerine,  at  $29,142,533.  The 
production  of  hard  soaps  was  2,064,- 
228,000  pounds,  valued  at  $104,500,542 
and  comprised  938.447,000  pounds  of 
tallow  soap,  42.524,000  pounds  of  olein 
soap,  111,063,000  pounds  of  foot  soap, 
169,926,000  pounds  of  toilet  soap,  367,- 
744,000  pounds  of  powdered  soap,  97,- 
746,000  pounds  of  soap  chips,  and  336.- 
778,000  pounds  of  other  kinds  of  hard 
soap.  The  production  of  soft  soap  was 
57,002,000  pounds,  valued  at  $1.697,424. 
In  addition,  there  were  special  soap 
articles,  such  as  soaps  for  technical 
purposes,  and  liquid  soap,  to  the  value 
of  $832,654. 


MISCELLANEOUS  INDUSTRIES 


GLASS 

During  the  year  1914  there  were  347 
establishments  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  glass,  the  products  of  which  were 
valued  at  $122,964,792.  The  value  of 
building  glass  produced  was  $36,794,869. 
as  follows  :  400,998,893  square  feet  of 
window  glass,  valued  at  $17,466,756 ; 
43,040,079  square  feet  of  obscured  glass, 
including  cathedral  and  skylight  glass, 
valued  at  $2,417,253  ;  60,515,008  square 
feet  of  plate  glass,  valued  at  $14,799,646  ; 
15,688,844  square  feet  of  wire  glass, 
valued  at  $1,590,934 ;  and  all  other 
building  glass,  to  the  value  of  $520,280. 
The  pressed  and  blown  glass  produced 
was  valued  at  $30,130,077  ;  bottles,  jars, 
etc.,  $51,425,022 ;  and  all  other  prod- 
ucts, $4,614,824. 

THE   GAS    INDUSTRY 

The  consumption  of  gas-making  fuels 
by  the  1,284  gas  companies  in  1914  com- 
prised 6.116,672  tons  of  coal,  costing 
$20,872,517;  716,619,357  gallons  of  oil, 
costing  $24,934,184;  964,851  tons  of 
coke,  costing  $4,706,602  ;  and  31,749,491 
pounds  of  calcium  carbide,  costing  $778,- 
037.  There  was  also  purchased  by  the 
gas  companies  28,351.074.000  cubic  feet 
of  gas,  at  a  cost  of  $8,883,016,  a  por- 
tion of  which  was  enriched  and  sold, 
and  the  remainder  sold  as  purchased. 

The  gas  products  comprise  203,- 
730,191,000  cubic  feet  of  gas,  val- 
ued at  $175,065,930,  consisting  of 
10,509,946,000  cubic  feet  of  straight 
coal  gas,  valued  at  $10,726,514  ;  90,017,- 
725,000  cubic  feet  of  carbureted  water 
gas,  valued  at  $74.516.534;  86,281,- 
339,000  cubic  feet  of  mixed  coal  and 
water  gas,  valued  at  $72,012,021 ;  16.- 
601,805,000  cubic  feet  of  oil  gas,  valued 
at  $15,044,509;  137,964.000  cubic  feet 
of  acetylene,  valued  at  $2,511,634;  and 
181,412,000  cubic  feet  of  other  gas, 
chiefly  if  not  entirely  gasoline  gas,  val- 
ued at  $254,718.  In  addition,  the  gas 
plants  produced  for  sale  114.091,753 
bushels  of  coke,  valued  af  $8,719,910; 


125,938.607  gallons  of  tar,  valued  at 
$3,252,756 ;  and  ammonia  liquors,  am- 
monium sulphate,  and  hydrocarbons, 
valued  at  $1,405,540.  They  also  sold 
"other  products" — consisting  largely  of 
gas  purchased  for  sale — to  the  value  of 
$20.815.871.  Receipts  from  rents  and 
sales  of  lamps  and  appliances  aggre- 
gated $10,977,774. 

ARTIFICIAL    ICE 

The  total  cost  of  ammonia  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  ice  in  1914  was  $1,- 
529,775.  There  were  5,405,917  pounds 
of  anhydrous  ammonia  used,  costing  $1,- 
422,196  and  1.927.664  pounds  of  aqua 
ammonia,  costing  $107,579. 

The  total  value  of  all  products  for 
the  year  was  $60.352,236.  There  were 
produced  17,086,400  tons  of  can  ice, 
valued  at  $52,116,457,  and  1,179.092 
tons  of  plate  ice,  valued  at  $3,107,839. 
Other  products  were  valued  at  $5,- 
127,940. 

RUBBER  GOODS 

The  products  of  the  331  establish- 
ments engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
rubber  goods  during  the  year  1914  were 
valued  at  $300,251,827.  The  production 
of  rubber  tires  was  valued  at  $146,411,- 
692  and  formed  48.8  per  cent  of  the 
total  value  of  all  kinds  of  rubber  manu- 
factured. There  were  manufactured 
8,020,815  automobile  tires  or  casings, 
valued  at  $105,671,223  ;  7,906,993  auto- 
mobile inner  tubes,  valued  at  $20,098,- 
936 ;  solid  tires  for  motor  and  other 
vehicles  to  the  value  of  $13,735,681 ; 
and  3,728,138  motorcycle,  bicycle  and 
aeroplane  tires,  valued  at  $6,905,852. 

There  were  manufactured  during  the 
year  4.024,486  pairs  of  boots,  valued 
at  $12.647.934,  and  57.211.728  pairs  of 
shoes,  valued  at  $37,858,222.  The  value 
of  rubber  clothing  produced  was  $6,396,- 
810 ;  of  garden,  fire,  and  other  hose, 
$16,853,693 ;  of  rubber  belting,  $7.989,- 
405;  of  rubber  packing,  $3,507,651;  of 
druggists'  and  stationers'  sundries,  $7,- 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


527,755 ;    and    of    miscellaneous    manu- 
factures of  rubber,   $39,983,969. 

STEAM     LAUNDRIES 

In  the  year  1914  there  were  6,097 
steam  laundries  in  the  United  States, 
with  149,100  persons  engaged  in  the 
industry.  The  capital  invested  was 
$98,055,001.  The  cost  of  materials  was 
$26,919,200  and  of  services,  $71,764,059. 
The  amount  received  for  work  done, 
which  is  regarded  as  the  product  of  the 
industry,  was  $142,503,253. 

GLUCOSE  AND   STARCH 

The  principal  materials  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  glucose  and  starch  are 
corn,  potatoes  and  wheat  flour,  the  con- 
sumption of  these  materials  in  1914 
being  2,488,792,405  pounds,  169,878,784 
pounds,  and  14.198,049  pounds,  respec- 
tively. The  total  value  of  the  manu- 
factured products  was  $51,676,653.  The 
principal  products  were  620,764,347 
pounds  of  starch,  valued  at  $15,783.- 
781 ;  847,180,968  pounds  of  glucose,  in- 
cluding all  sirups,  valued  at  $18,541.- 
429;  174,368,818  pounds  of  grape 
sugar,  valued  at  $3,765.515;  8.861,579 
gallons  of  corn  oil,  valued  at  $3,693,163  ; 
and  143,001,065  pounds  of  corn-oil  cake 
and  meal,  valued  at  $1,829,305.  Stock 
feed  was  valued  at  $6,690,412,  and  all 
other  products  at  $1,373,048. 

PIANOS    AXD    ORGANS    AND    MATERIALS 

The  total  value  of  the  pianos,  organs 


and  materials  manufactured  in  1914  was 
$68,769,476.  The  number  of  pianos 
manufactured  was  325,893,  valued  at 
$56,266,362.  There  were  227,556  up- 
right pianos  without  player  attach- 
ments, valued  at  $31,385,881  ;  87,808 
upright  pianos  for  (or  with)  player 
attachments,  valued  at  $20.265,514 ; 
9,698  grand  pianos  without  player  at- 
tachments, valued  at  $4,201,302 ;  and 
831  grand  pianos  for  (or  with)  player 
attachments,  valued  at  $413,665.  There 
were  6,493  separate  player  attachments 
manufactured  with  a  value  of  $854,774. 
The  number  of  organs  manufactured 
was  42,806,  valued  at  $6,378,312.  There 
were  2,273  pipe  organs,  valued  at  $4,- 
660.301,  and  40,533  reed  organs,  valued 
at  $1,718,011.  The  value  of  perforated 
music  rolls  manufactured  was  $833,357  ; 
piano  parts,  materials  and  supplies, 
$2,792.942 ;  and  all  other  products, 
$1,643,729. 

PHONOGRAPHS,     GRAPHOPHONES     AND 
TALKING   MACHINES 

The  number  of  phonographs,  grapho- 
phones  and  talking  machines,  including 
office-dictating  instruments, ,  manufac- 
tured during  1914,  amounted  to  515,154 
machines,  with  a  value  of  $15,290,491. 
The  27,221,290  records  and  blanks  pro- 
duced were  valued  at  $11,111,418.  Parts, 
materials  and  supplies  were  valued  at 
$356,935  and  other  products  at  $357,072. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
THE  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRY 


NOTHING  in  modern  invention, 
in  the  progress  of  labor-saving 
devices,  in  the  application  of 
invention  to  every-day  life,  can  show 
a  parallel  with  the  remarkable  de- 
velopment of  the  automobile. 

Everyone  whose  memory  goes 
back  ten  or  fifteen  years  can  see  to 
some  extent  the  effects  of  this  de- 
velopment, but  only  figures  can  give 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  wonderful 
growth  of  the  industry  from  nothing 
to  its  present  huge  proportions. 

In  1914  there  were  three  hundred 
establishments  'devoted  to  the  manu- 
facture of  automobiles  exclusively, 
producing  573,114  Cars.  A  total  of 
91,997  people  were  employed,  of 
which  60  were  firm  members  or  pro- 
prietors, 12,630  salaried  employees, 
and  79,307  wage  earners.  The  capi- 
tal employed  in  the  industry  aggre- 
gated $312,876,000,  and  a  total,  of 
$84,901,000  was  disbursed  in  pay- 
ment for  services,  $66,935,000  for 
wages,  and  the  balance,  $17,966,000, 
for  salaries. 

Materials  to  the  value  of  $292,- 
598,000  were  purchased  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  automobiles.  The  manu- 
facturing process  added  $210,632,000 
to  this,  giving  a  value  of  automo- 
biles made  in  1914  as  $503,230,000. 

These  figures,  of  course,  represent 
only  a  part  of  the  automobile  in- 
dustry, and,  indeed,  so  rapid  is  its 
progress  that  1916  figures,  if  they 
were  obtainable,  would  show  a  large 
increase  over  those  given. 

The  manufacture  of  automobile 
bodies  and  parts  is  in  itself  an 
enormous  industry,  sprung,  almost 


overnight,  with  the  demand  for  more 
automobile  members  than  the  mak- 
ers of  the  machine  themselves  could 
supply. 

In  addition,  in  1914,  33  establish- 
ments primarily  engaged  in  other 
lines  of  manufacture,  produced  auto- 
mobiles to  the  value  of  $6,636,920, 
and  434  establishments  of  this  char- 
acter manufactured  automobile  bod- 
ies and  parts  to  the  value  of  $10,- 
515,070. 

Nine  hundred  and  seventy-one  es- 
tablishments, employing  a  total  of 
53,954  people,  made  automobile  parts 
and  bodies  in  1914.  Seven  hundred 
were  firm  members  or  proprietors, 
5,469  salaried  employees,  and  47,785 
wage  earners.  Capital  was  invested 
in  the  industry  to  the  amount  of  $94,- 
854,000,  and  $54,552,000  was  paid  out 
for  services  rendered,  $19,560,000  for 
salaries,  and  $34,992,000  for  wages. 
Materials  valued  at  $63,610,000  were 
worked  into  products  valued  at  $129,- 
601,000,  the  process  thus  adding  $65,- 
991,000  to  the  worth  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial. 

At  the  1909  census,  315  establish- 
ments engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  automobiles  either  as  a  primary 
or  as  a  subsidiary  product;  and 
their  output  was  127,287  machines, 
valued  at  $165,099,404.  During  the 
five  years,  1909-1914,  there  has  been 
an  increase  of  350.3  per  cent  in  the 
number  of  automobiles  manufac- 
tured, and  of  181.7  per  cent  in  their 
total  value. 

Of  the  automobiles  manufactured 
during  1914,  those  operated  by  gaso- 
line or  steam  power  numbered  568,- 


Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


224 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


399,  and  those  operated  by  electri- 
city, 4,715,  as  compared  with  123,- 
452  operated  by  gasoline  or  steam, 
and  3,835  by  electric  power,  manu- 
factured in  1909.  The  increase  dur- 
ing the  five  years  in  the  number  of 
gasoline  and  steam  machines  manu- 
factured is  thus  360.4  per  cent,  and 
in  the  number  of  electrics,  22.9%. 

Touring  cars  formed  the  principal 
type  manufactured  during  both  cen- 
sus years.  In  1914  the  output  of 
this  class  of  machines  was  454,876, 
valued  at  $351,585,518,  compared 
with  76,189,  valued  at  $113,510,575 
in  1909.  Of  the  total  products  for 
1914,  the  number  designed  for  pleas- 
ure or  family  use  was  544,255,  com- 
pared with  119,190  in  1909.  For  bus- 
iness purposes  and  for  use  as  public 
cabs,  omnibuses,  ambulances,  patrol 


wagons,  fire-fighting  machines,  and 
for  other  business  purposes,  24,144 
machines  were  manufactured  in 
1914,  compared  with  4,262  in  1909. 
The  output  of  delivery  wagons  and 
trucks  was  22,753  in  1914,  compared 
with  2,771  in  1909. 

HORSE-POWER 

The  production  of  vehicles  of  less 
than  10  horse-power  amounted  to 
only  391  in  1914;  of  from  10  to  19 
horse-power,  to  45,116;  of  from  20 
to  29  horse-power,  to  346,399;  of 
from  30  to  49  horse-power,  to  163,- 
468 ;  and  of  50  horse-power  or  more, 
to  13,025.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  104,983  horse-power  is  devel- 
oped in  the  automobile  manufactur- 
ing plants  and  68,701  in  the  plants 
making  bodies  and  parts. 


A  GLORIOUS   VIEW  FROM  THE   PIKE'S   PEAK   AUTO   HIGHWAY 


THE    OLD    AND    THE    NEW    TRANSPORTATION 


226 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


COMPARISON    1909-14 

The  following  table,  listing  the 
totals  of  automobile  manufacturers 
and  makers  of  bodies  and  parts, 
shows  in  a  graphic  way  the  growth 
of  the  industry. 

It  is  not,  however,  only  in  the 
statistics  of  the  industry  that  its 
effects  are  to  be  shown,  An  auto- 


State  of  New  York  in  1901  and 
amounted  to  only  $954.  Other  States 
gradually  took  up  the  registration  of 
motor  vehicles,  chauffeurs,  and  oper- 
ators, but  for  several  years  revenue 
from  these  sources  was  negligible. 
The  total  amount  collected  by  the 
various  States  in  1905  amounted  to 
only  $62,500.  The  increase  in  sub- 


TABLE  SHOWING  GROWTH  OF  THE  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRY 


1909 

1914 

Percent 
of  increase 
1909-1914 

Number  of  establishments  
Machines  manufactured             .  . 

743 

127  287 

1,271 
573  114 

71.0 
350  3 

Persons  engaged  in  manufacture: 
Proprietors  and  firm  members 

85,359 
405 

145,951 
760 

71.0 

87  7 

Salaried  employees  

9,233 

18,099 

96  0 

W^age  earners         ... 

75  721 

127  092 

67  8 

Primary  horsepower  

75,550 

173,684 

129  9 

Capital                                                  .... 

$173  837  000 

$407  730  000 

134  5 

Services  

58,173,000 

139,453,000 

139.7 

Salaries                                .               .... 

9  479  000 

37  526  000 

295  9 

Wages  

48,694,000 

101,927,000 

109.3 

Materials  
Value  of  products  

131,646,000 
249,202,000 

356,208,000 
632,831.000 

170.6 
153.9 

Value  added  by  manufacture  (value  of  prod- 
ucts less  cost  of  materials)  

117,556.000 

276,623,000 

135.3 

mobile  is  not  like  a  pair  of  shoes, 
bought,  used  up  and  discarded  in  a 
year  to  make  room  for  a  new  pair. 
The  automobile  is  bought  and  kept 
for  several  seasons,  so  that  only  a 
part  of  the  new  output  is  absorbed 
by  the  experienced  owner.  The  re- 
sult is  that  the  automobile  wealth — 
or  money  invested  in  machines  which 
yet  have  a  tangible  and  tremendous 
value — is  almost  beyond  computa- 
tion. 

NUMBER    OF    CARS 

Only  the  registration  of  automo- 
biles (in  the  absence  of  a  census) 
can  give  any  adequate  idea  of  how 
many  machines  are  actually  in  use. 

During  the  past  ten  years'  the 
State  registration  of  motor  cars,  in- 
cluding commercial  vehicles,  has  in- 
creased 5,000  per  cent,  or  from  about 
48,000  in  1906,  to  2,445,664  in  1915. 

The  first  revenue  derived  by  the 
State  governments  from  automobile 
registration  was  collected  in  the 


sequent  years  has  been  almost  phe- 
nomenal, and  during  1915  the  total 
gross  revenues  derived  from  the  reg- 
istration of  motor  vehicles  and  the 
licensing  of  operators,  chauffeurs, 
dealers,  etc.,  amounted  to  $18,245,- 
713. 

Motor  vehicles  registered  under 
the  general  designation  of  automo- 
biles, motor  trucks,  and  commercial 
vehicles  in  continental  United  States 
during  1915  amounted  to  2,445,664. 
The  road  mileage  of  the  United 
States  outside  of  incorporated  towns 
and  cities  is  approximately  2,375,000 
miles.  There  is,  therefore,  an  aver- 
age of  slightly  more  than  one  car 
for  each  mile  of  rural  public  road. 
The  distribution  among  the  several 
States,  however,  is  far  from  uni- 
form. There. is  only  one  motor  for 
every  six  miles  of  road  in  Nevada, 
while  in  New  Jersey  there  are  nearly 
six  motor  cars  per  mile  of  road. 
With  an  average  of  one  motor  car 
for  every  44  persons  in  the  United 


Good  Roads  and  Auto  Buses  Add  Greatly  to  Our  Pleasures 
The  Modern  Land  Houseboat  Is  Like  a  Gipsy  Caravan 

A  Modern   "Jitney"   Bus 
SOME   COLLECTIVE    MEANS    OF   TRANSPORTATION 


228 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


States,  in  Iowa  there  is  one  for  ev- 
ery 16  persons,  but  only  one  for 
every  200  persons  in  Alabama. 

AUTOMOBILE  ACCIDENTS 

That  more  just  laws,  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  other  fellow's  rights  and 
a  standard  of  good  driving,  set  by 
familiarity  and  public  opinion,  are 
having  their  effect  upon  "Safety 
First"  is  unquestionable. 

From  1909  to  1914  the  number  of 
automobiles  increased  more  than 
twice  as  rapidly  as  the  number  of 


area  in  1914;  and  the  increase  from 
1913  to  1914,  for  the  registration 
area  as  constituted  in  1913,  then 
containing  65  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  country,  was  from 
2,488  to  2,795. 

Thus  a  five-year  increase  of  775 
per  cent  in  number  of  machines  has 
been  accompanied  by  an  increase  of 
315  per  cent  in  automobile  fatalities ; 
and  a  one-year  increase  of  38  per 
cent  in  number  of  machines  has  been 
accompanied  by  an  increase  of  12 
per  cent  in  fatalities. 


WRECKING     TRUCK    FOR    ENGINEER      AUTOMOBILE     GENERAL    REPAIR    SHOP 
CORPS    SERVICE  FOR  ENGINEERING  CORPS  SERVICE 


fatalities  caused  by  them.  Accord- 
ing to  figures  of  the  National  Auto- 
mobile Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
number  of  automobiles  in  use  in  the 
United  States  was  in  1904  approxi- 
mately 200,000 ;  by  the  close  of  1913 
it  had  risen  to  1,270,000 ;  at  the  end 
of  1914,  to  1,750,000. 

The  number  of  deaths  due  to  auto- 
mobile accidents,  and  injuries,  in- 
creased from  632  in  the  death-regis- 
tration area  in  1909  (containing  56 
per  cent  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States)  to  2,623  in  the  same 


A  more  reliable  comparison  can 
be  made  between  the  increase  in 
number  of  automobiles  and  the  in- 
crease in  the  rate  per  100,000  popu- 
lation for  deaths  caused  by  them. 
On  this  basis,  a  five-year  increase  of 
775  per  cent  in  number  of  machines 
has  been  accompanied  by  an  increase 
of  258  per  cent  in  the  death  rate  re- 
sulting from  automobile  fatalities. 
Similarly,  a  one-year  increase  of 
38%  in  number  of  automobiles  has 
taken  place  along  with  an  increase 
of  only  10%  in  the  death,  rate. 


WHAT   Tl 


Views   on   the   Columbia  River  Highway 

ENGINEER  HAS   DONH   FOR    THE    AUTOMOBILIST 


11 


# 

• 


!  s 
11 


&« 

"So  g 

ih 

M  * 


II 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  RECENT  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AMERICAN 

COMMERCE 

By  SECRETARY  OF  COMMERCE  WILLIAM  C.  REDFIELD 


T~jV3REIGN  trade  has  in  less  than 
H  three  years  become  one  of  the 
most  important  factors  in  the 
industrial  life  of  our  nation.  The 
change  has  been  so  sudden  that  its 
significance  is  not  fully  understood 
even  by  all  those  directly  inter- 
ested. It  is  not  merely  that  we 
have  become,  almost  over  night,  the 
world's  greatest  trading  nation.  For 
a  great  many  years  we  have  ranked 
near  the  top,  especially  in  exports. 
It  is  rather  that  our  whole  attitude 
toward  foreign  markets  has  changed. 
Our  attitude  now  is  one  of  enthu- 
siasm, where  formerly  we  were 
indifferent  or  only  casually  inter- 
ested. 

Once  upon  a  time  our  foreign 
trading  consisted  of  selling  abroad 
our  raw  agricultural  and  mineral 
products  and  buying  in  turn  such 
manufactured  products  as  we  need- 
ed. This  sort  of  commerce  can  be 
carried  on  with  little  effort.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  it  never  required 
much  effort  on  our  part  and  it  never 
brought  us  in  very  close  contact 
with  the  problems  of  world  trade. 
We  did  not  have  an  international 
point  of  view. 

It  was  many  years  before  Amer- 
ican manufacturers  found  them- 
selves in  a  position  to  export  their 
products.  From  the  start  the  home 
market  was  a  rich  one  and  one  with 
which  we  kept  pace  only  with  diffi- 
culty. The  first  foreign  shipments 
of  any  consequence  were  largely  the 
result  of  "hard  times"  at  home, 
which  in  the  past  have  been  almost 


periodical  with  us.  The  shipments 
abroad  were  an  effort  to  keep  the 
wheels  in  motion  while  the  demand 
at  home  was  slack.  Considerable 
temporary  success  attended  this  de- 
parture, although  the  practice  of 
supplying  customers  with  products 
one  year  and  disappointing  them  the 
next  is  not  one  that  makes  for  cor- 
dial trade  relations.  Experience  in 
foreign  trade  methods  was  gained, 
however,  in  this  way  and  more  than 
one  manufacturer  was  led  to  estab- 
lish permanent  export  departments. 
Some  put  their  export  business  on  a 
sound  basis,  while  others  began  a 
sort  of  permanent  "dumping"  busi- 
ness abroad  aimed  to  reduce  over- 
head charges  per  unit  on  all  goods 
manufactured.  In  the  latter  case 
the  American  consumer,  however, 
derived  no  benefit  from  the  in- 
creased efficiency  resulting  from  the 
nearer  approach  to  maximum  capa- 
city output,  and  the  manufacturers 
themselves  felt  no  real  enthusiasm 
for  foreign  trade.  It  was  not  the 
proper  way  to  win  the  place  in 
world  trade  to  which  we  are  en- 
titled by  reason  of  our  unparalleled 
resources,  our  capacity  for  indus- 
trial organization,  and  our  intelli- 
gent and  industrious  workmen. 

That  the  development  of  Amer- 
ican commerce  may  be  easily  traced, 
a  table  is  inserted  here  which  shows 
the  total  exports  and  imports  for 
a  long  period  of  years,  and  also  the 
traae  of  our  principal  commercial 
rivals,  the  United  Kingdom,  Ger- 
many and  France. 


Copyright  by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


232 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS  AND  TOTAL  FOREIGN  TRADE  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES,   THE  UNITED  KINGDOM,  GERMANY,  AND   FRANCE    FROM 

1870  TO  LATEST  AVAILABLE  YEAR 


United  States  1 

United  Kingdom 

Yeari 

Total  ex- 

Total ex- 

Imports 2 

Exports 

ports  and 

Net 

Domestic 

ports  and 

imports 

imports 

exports 

imports 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollazs 

1,000  dollazs 

1870  

435,958 

392,772 

828,730 

1,259,270 

971,285 

2,230,555 

1871  

520,224 

442,820 

963,044 

1,316,417 

1,085,551 

2,401,968 

1872  

626,595 

444,178 

,070,773 

1,442,250 

1,247,075 

2,689,325 

1873  

642,136 

522,480 

,164,616 

1,535,123 

1,241,760 

2,776,883 

1874  

567,406 

586,283 

,153,689 

1,518,304 

1,165,809 

2,684,113 

1875  

533,005 

513,443 

,046,448 

1,536,811 

1,087,497 

2,624,308 

1876  

460,741 

540,385 

,001,126 

1,552,501 

976,410 

2,528,911 

1877  

451,323 

602,475 

,053,798 

1,659,316 

967,913 

2,627,229 

1878  

437,052 

694,866 

,131,918 

1,538,476 

938,500 

2,476,976 

1879  

445,778 

710,439 

,156,217 

1,487,884 

932,090 

2,419,974 

1880  

667,955 

835,639 

,503,594 

1,692,939 

1,085,521 

2,778,460 

1881  

642,665 

902,377 

,545,042 

1,625,227 

1,138,873 

2,764,100 

1882  .... 

724,640 

750,542 

,475,182 

1,692,695 

1,175,099 

2,867,794 

1883  

723,181 

823,839 

,547,020 

1,758,043 

1,166,982 

2,925,025 

1884  

667,698 

740,514 

,408,212 

1,591,720 

1,134,016 

2,725,736 

1885  

577,527 

742,190 

,319,717 

1,521,312 

1,037,124 

2,558,436 

1886  

635,436 

679,525 

,314,961 

1,428,945 

1,035,226 

2,464,171 

1887  

692,320 

716,183 

,408,503 

1,473,961 

1,079,944 

2,553,905 

1888  .... 

723,957 

695,955 

,419,912 

1,574,766 

1,141,365 

2,716,131 

1889  

745,132 

742,401 

,487,533 

1,756,714 

1,211,442 

2,968,156 

1890  

789,310 

857,829 

,647,139 

1,732,331 

1,282,472 

3,014,803 

1891  

844,916 

884,481 

,729,397 

1,817,943 

1,203,170 

3,021,113 

1892  

827,403 

1,030,278 

,857,681 

1,748,875 

1,105,749 

2,854,624 

1893  

866,401 

847,665 

,714,066 

1,682,882 

1,062,161 

2,745,043 

1894  

654,995 

892,141 

,547,136 

1,706,023 

1,051,191 

2,757,214 

1895  

731,970 

807,538 

,539,508 

1,737,270 

1,100,453 

2,837,723 

1896  

779,725 

882,607 

,662,332 

1,876,402 

1,168,669 

3,045,071 

1897  

764,730 

1,050,994 

,815,724 

1,903,165 

1,139,830 

3,042,995 

1898  

616,050 

1,231,482 

1,847,532 

1,994,730 

1,135,643 

3,130,373 

1899  

697,149 

1,227,023 

1,924,172 

2,043,897 

1,287,151 

3,331,048 

1900  

849,941 

1,394,483 

2,244,424 

2,238,071 

1,417,086 

3,655,157 

1901  

823,172 

1,487,765 

2,310,937 

2,210,112 

1,362,729 

3,572,841 

1902.  .  . 

903,321 

1,381,719 

2,285,040 

2,251,128 

1,379,283 

3,630,411 

1903  

1,025,719 

1,420,142 

2,445,801 

2,301,985 

1,415,179 

3,717,164 

1904.  .  .  . 

991,088 

1,460,827 

2,451,915 

2,339,493 

1,463,410 

3,802,903 

1905  

1,117,513 

1,518,562 

2,636,075 

2,346,821 

1,605,052 

3,951,873 

1906  

1,226,562 

1,743,865 

2,970,427 

2,544,138 

1,827,737 

4,371,875 

1907  

1,434,422 

1,880,851 

3,315,273 

2,695,388 

2,073,300 

4,768,688 

1908  .... 

,194,342 

1,860,773 

3,055,115 

2,498,119 

1,835,176 

4,333,295 

1909  

,311,920 

1,663,011 

2,974,931 

2,595,597 

1,840,415 

4,436,012 

1910  

,556,947 

1,744,985 

3,301,932 

2,795,785 

2,094,467 

4,890,252 

1911  

,527,226 

2,049,320 

3,576,546 

2,809,909 

2,209,972 

5,019,881 

1912.  .  .  . 

,653,265 

2,204,322 

3,857,587 

3,080,022 

2,371,073 

5,451,095 

1913  

,813,008 

2,465,884 

4,278,892 

3,207,800 

2,556,106 

5,763,906 

1914  

1,893,926 

2,364,579 

4,258,505 

2,925,550 

2,096,105 

5,021,655 

1915  

1,674,170 

2,768,589 

4,442,759 

3,674,009 

1,871,886 

5,545,895 

1916  

2,197,884 

4,333,659 

6,531,543 

'Figures  for  the  United  States  are  for  the  fiscal  years  ended  June  30;  for  the  other 
countries  they  are  for  the  calendar  years. 
2General  imports. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


233 


IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS  AND  TOTAL  FOREIGN  TRADE  OP  THE  UNITED 

STATES,  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM,  GERMANY,  AND  FRANCE  FROM 

1870  TO   LATEST  AVAILABLE  YEAR 


Germany  3 

France  * 

Year 

Total  ex- 

Total ex- 

Imports 

Exports 

ports  and 

Imports 

Exports 

ports  and 

imports 

imports 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1,000  dollars 

1870 

553,400 

540,800 

1,094  200 

1871  

688,400 

554,400 

1,  242^800 

1872  

"  775,  i  28' 

551,618 

'  '1,316,746' 

689,100 

726,000 

1,415,100 

1873  

893,176 

542,085 

1,435,261 

686.100 

730,900 

1,417,000 

1874  

856,662 

557,491 

1,414,153 

677,000 

714,300 

1,391,300 

1875  

839,590 

593,052 

1,432,642 

682,600 

747,400 

1,430,000 

1876  

903,977 

605,886 

1,509,863 

769,800 

690,100 

1,459,900 

1877  

896,972 

656,982 

1,553,954 

708,300 

663,200 

1,371,500 

1878  

834,487 

686,671 

1,521,158 

806,000 

613,700 

1,419,700 

1879  

896,618 

660,352 

1,556,970 

886,900 

623,600 

1,510,500 

1880  

670,945 

688,500 

1,359,445 

971,400 

669,300 

1,640,700 

1881  

705,013 

707,978 

1,412,991 

938,600 

687,400 

1,626,000 

1882  

744,552 

758,817 

1,503,369 

930,600 

689,900 

1,620,500 

1883  

776;476 

778,257 

1,554,733 

927,200 

666,200 

1,593,400 

1884  

775,904 

762,432 

1,538,336 

838,300 

623,900 

1,462,200 

1885  

699,067 

680,551 

1,379,618 

789,100 

596,000 

1,385,100 

1886  

684,765 

710,186 

1,394,951 

812,200 

627,000 

1,439,200 

1887  

740,511 

745,896 

1,486,407 

777,000 

626,600 

1,403,600 

1888..  .  . 

778,434 

762,444 

1,540,878 

792,700 

626,600 

1,419,300 

1889  

949,520 

753,222 

1,702,742 

833,200 

714,900 

1,548,100 

1890  

990,023 

791,717 

1,781,740 

856,300 

724,400 

1,580,700 

1891  

987,890 

755,771 

1,743,661 

920,200 

689,000 

1,609,200 

1892  

956,415 

703,078 

1,659,493 

808,300 

667,900 

1,476,200 

1893  

942,894 

735,886 

1,678,780 

743,800 

624,600 

,368,400 

1894  

937.304 

704,826 

1,642,130 

743,100 

594,000 

,337,100 

1895  

980,719 

789,660 

1,770,379 

717,900 

651,100 

,369,000 

1896  

1,025,105 

838,981 

1,864,086 

733,126 

656,400 

,389,526 

1897  

1,114,006 

865,124 

1,979,130 

763,508 

694,405 

,467,913 

1898.  .  .  . 

1,209,194 

894,063 

2,103,257 

863,193 

677,604 

,540,797 

1899  

1,304,977 

1,001,278 

2,306,255 

872,032 

801,459 

,673,491 

1900.  .  .  . 

1,372,216 

1,097,509 

2,469,725 

906,675 

792,979 

,699,654 

1901  

1,290,254 

1,054,685 

2,344,939 

843,256 

774,498 

,617,754 

1902  .  .  . 

1,340,178 

1,113,313 

2,453.491 

848,046 

820,671 

,668,717 

1903  

1,428,640 

1,193,483 

2,622,123 

926,632 

820,685 

,747,317 

1904.  . 

1,512,328 

1,243,029 

2,755,357 

868,946 

859,034 

1,727,980 

1905  

1,696,660 

1,364,131 

3,060,791 

922,329 

939,305 

1,861,634 

1906  .  . 

1,907,210 

1,713,449 

3,452,659 

1,086,059 

1,016,240 

2,102,299 

1907  

2,081,066 

1,629,163 

3,710,229 

1,201,031 

1,080,047 

2,281,078 

1908.  . 

1.824,037 

1,522,860 

3,346,897 

1,088,619 

974,791 

2,063,410 

1909  

2,027.790 

1,568,954 

3,596,744 

1,205,500 

1,103,584 

2,309,084 

1910  

2,126,322 

1,778,969 

3,905,291 

1,384,453 

1,203,124 

2,587,577 

1911  

2,309,947 

1,929,243 

4,239,190 

1,556,705 

1,172,834 

2,729,539 

1912.... 

2,544.637 

2,131,718 

4,676,355 

1,588,553 

1,295,528 

2,884,081 

1913  

2,563,331 

2,402,967 

4,966,298 

1,642,117 

1,326,950 

2,969,067 

1914 

1,235,619 

939,685 

2,175,304 

1915 

1916. 

1  Special  trade. 


234 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


The  decreasing  relative  impor- 
tance of  raw  materials  in  our  ex- 
ports is  shown  in  the  following  ta- 
bles, the  second  of  which  sets  forth 
in  some  detail  the  recent  develop- 
ment: 


is  temporary  and  what  part  of  it 
may  be  retained  if  we  determine 
to  retain  it  and  determine  to  give 
our  best  efforts  to  retaining  it.  In 
a  table  given  below  it  will  be  seen 
that  our  exports  to  certain  of  the 


AVERAGE  ANNUAL  DOMESTIC  EXPORTS  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  AND   THE 
PROPORTION  OF  RAW  AND  MANUFACTURED  PRODUCTS,  1870  TO  1914 


Period 

Total  Value 

Foodstuffs 

Raw  Materials 

Manufactures 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

1870-1879. 
1880-1889. 
1890-1899. 
1900-1909. 
1910-1914. 

$530,155,600 
748,011,563 
953,635,567 
1,555,067,656 
2,130,428,647 

$208,959,362 
335,463,721 
419,604,241 
499,351,477 
421,413,854 

39.41 
44.85 
44.00 
32.11 
19.78 

$211,010,501 
259,012,052 
286,653,935 
460,922,051 
705,287,325 

39.80 
34.63 
30.06 
29.64 
33.11 

$170,863,847 
150,055,277 
241,221,398 
585,713,271 
995,831,058 

20.35 
20.06 
25.29 
37.66 
46.74 

DOMESTIC  EXPORTS  FROM  THE  UNITED    STATES,    CLASSIFIED    BY    GREAT 

GROUPS   ACCORDING   TO    USE    AND   DEGREE    OP   MANUFACTURE, 

DURING    THE    FISCAL    YEARS    ENDED  JUNE  30,  1914,  AND  1916 


1914 

1916 

Great  Groups 

Value 

Per  Cent 

Value 

Per  Cent 

Crude  materials  for  use  in  manu- 
facturing 

$792  716,109 

34.03 

$536,189,752 

12.55 

Foodstuffs  in  crude  condition  and 
food  animals          

137,495,121 

5.90 

380,799,902 

8.91 

Foodstuffs  partly  or  wholly  manu- 
factured   
Manufactures    for    further    use    in 
manufacturing  
Manufactures  ready  for  consump- 
tion 

293,218,336 
374,224,210 
724  908,000 

12.59 
16.  OC 
31.11 

596,071,882 
662,549,838 
1,996,367,492 

13.95 
15.51 
46.73 

Miscellaneous  

7,122,249 

.31 

100,418.908 

2.35 

Total  

$2,329,684,025 

100.00 

$4,272,397,774 

100.00 

The  most  important  point  in  the 
foregoing  tables  is  the  fact  that  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years  we  have 
shipped  abroad  a  much  smaller  pro- 
portion of  raw  materials  than  for- 
merly, and  hence  a  greater  propor- 
tion of  manufactured  goods.  It  is 
only  natural  that  such  a  tendency 
should  be  viewed  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction  by  Americans. 

The  destination  of  our  exports 
during  the  last  two  years  is  a  mat- 
ter of  the  greatest  importance,  for 
it  indicates  to  a  certain  extent  what 
proportion  of  our  newly  found  trade 


belligerent  European  countries  have 
increased  enormously  since  the  war 
started,  and  of  course  much  of  this 
increase  can  fairly  be  attributed  to 
munitions  of  war  and  to  such  sup- 
plies as  are  needed  indirectly  to 
maintain  armies  in  the  field.  This 
includes  explosives,  shells,  guns,  and 
a  percentage  of  the  clothes,  shoes, 
and  so  on  that  are  now  being 
shipped  abroad  in  unprecedented 
quantities.  Fortunately  for  all  man- 
kind, the  demand  for  such  material 
cannot  go  on  forever,  and  when 
peace  is  finally  made  there  will  be 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


235 


a  falling  off  in  such  shipments, 
although  not  so  suddenly  perhaps 
as  has  been  generally  predicted. 

The  proportion  of  temporary  busi- 
ness in  our  European  exports  has 
been  exaggerated,  however.  It  is 
erroneous  to  suppose,  for  instance, 
that  the  demand  for  pork  and  wheat 
and  corn  sold  to  England  and 
France  at  this  time  is  a  temporary 
one  brought  about  by  the  war.  We 
have  always  sold  such  supplies  in 
Europe,  and  it  is  nojt  likely  that  the 
per  capita  consumption  of  foodstuffs 
in  a  country  at  war,  outside  of  the 
army,  is  greater  than  it  is  in  times 
of  peace.  Indeed  it  is  very  prob- 
able that  in  a  war  requiring  great 
sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  general 
population  their  per  capita  consump- 
tion may  be  decreased.  It  is  not 
likely  that  the  men  actually  at  the 
front  consume  more  food  than  they 
did  before  the  wrar  started.  Shoes 
and  other  articles  of  wearing  ap- 
parel are  of  course  worn  out  more 
rapidly  at  the  .front  than  in  ordi- 
nary walks  of  life,  although  there 
is  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  civilians  at  home  to  make  such 
articles  "go  further"  than  ordinarily. 

In  considering  our  war  time  com- 
merce with  Europe  and  attempting 
to  reach  some  conclusion  as  to  the 
changes  that  will  take  place  when 
peace  is  restored,  it  is  well  to  bear 
in  mind  the  fact  that  to  counter- 
balance some  of  the  inevitable  losses 
there  will  be  a  greatly  increased 
trade  for  some  years  with  the  na- 
tions that  are  now  wholly  or  partly 
shut  off  from  our  markets.  We  or- 
dinarily do  a  great  business  with  the 
Central  Powers,  but  after  the  war 
we  shall  be  called  upon  to  replenish 
depleted  stocks  in  addition.  This 
applies  to  Allied  countries  as  well 
and  perhaps  to  some  of  the  neu* 
trals.  There  will  also  be  consider- 
able reconstruction  work  in  which 
the  United  States  is  well  prepared 
to  take  part. 

A  table  is  given  here  to  show  what 
proportion  of  our  war  time  exports 
is  made  up  of  miHtary  supplies.  Our 
exports  may  be  divided  into  three 


groups :  (1 )  Exports  of  actual  muni- 
tions of  war,  including  cartridges, 
loaded  projectiles,  gunpowder,  nitro- 
toluol,  and  other  high  explosives, 
cannon,  rifles,  etc. ;  (2)  exports  of 
what  may  be  called  secondary  army 
supplies,  including  horses  and  mules, 
automobile  trucks  and  aeroplanes, 
horseshoes,  barbed  wire,  harness 
and  saddles,  men's  boots  and  shoes, 
wool  clothing  and  blankets,  and 
brass,  copper,  lead,  and  zinc  in  pigs, 
bars  and  other  manufactures;  (3) 
exports  of  other  products  that  have 
no  direct  relation  to  the  war,  in- 
cluding breadstuffs,  meat  and  dairy 
products,  cotton  and  its  manufac- 
tures, agricultural  and  other  manu- 
factures of  iron  and  steel,  leather, 
mineral  and  vegetable  oils,  tobacco, 
lumber  and  other  manufactures  of 
wood,  and  other  agricultural,  min- 
ing and  factory  products  that  we 
sell  abroad  during  normal  times. 
The  total  increase  in  the  articles 
included  in  the  third  class,  which 
are  normally  exported  in  times  of 
peace,  forms  practically  one-half  of 
the  increase  in  our  total  exports. 
This  fact  is  clearly  brought  out  in 
the  detailed  figures  in  tables  on 
pages  236  and  237. 

Our  trade  with  Europe,  then,  has 
recently  developed  to  enormous  pro- 
portions and  there  is  a  certainty 
that  in  some  items  there  will  be  a 
falling  off  when  munitions  of  war 
are  no  longer  required ;  but  there 
is  also  every  reason  to  believe  that 
in  other  lines  there  will  be  only  a 
gradual  decrease  or  no  decrease  at 
all.  In  some  lines,  as  lumber  and 
agricultural  implements,  an  increase 
may  be  expected. 

Our  exporters  and  manufacturers 
have  not  failed  to  realize  that  an 
unprecedented  opportunity  for  in- 
creased trade  has  existed  for  some 
time  in  countries  outside  of  Europe, 
and  the  result  is  that  to-day  we  are 
doing  a  larger  business  with  South 
America,  Asia,  Africa  and  Australia 
than  ever  before.  A  larger  share 
of  our  new  business  is  with  these 
countries  than  is  generally  supposed 
and  it  is  a  business  to  which  too 


236 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


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DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


237 


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238 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


much  importance  can  hardly  be  at- 
tached. If  the  war  had  ended  in 
six  months  it  is  probable  that  many 
dealers  in  South  America,  for  in- 
stance, would  have  returned  to  their 
old  European  connections,  and  while 
some  may  eventually  return,  no  mat- 
ter how  long  the  war  lasts,  others 
have  indicated  that  they  are  satis- 
fied with  their  new  American  con- 
nections and  will  make  no  further 
changes.  Some  of  our  best  lines  of 
goods  have  now  been  on  trial  for 
some  two  years  where  previously 
they  were  practically  unknown  and 
they  have  established  themselves 
permanently.  The  best  American 
methods  have  also  come  to  be  under- 
stood where  previously  they  were 
misunderstood.  There  are,  unfor- 
tunately, a  few  American  firms  who 
have  not  realized  their  responsi- 
bility and  have  rushed  in  to  take 
undue  advantage  of  the  necessities 
of  foreign  concerns.  The  trade  done 
by  such  firms  will  not  be  retained 
when  the  war  is  over,  but  the  bulk 
of  our  new  business  is  not  so  done 
and  can  be  retained  if  the  proper 
enterprise  is  shown. 

The  surplus  capital  that  has  re- 
sulted from  the  sudden  increase  in 
our  foreign  business  will,  or  should, 
prove  the  most  effective  factor  in 
making  the  new  business  perma- 
nent. Formerly  it  was  rare  to  have 
gold  flow  steadily  to  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  but  recently  it  has  not 


only  flowed  consistently  in  this  di- 
rection, but  in  quantities  tha.t  were 
never  approached  before  in  other 
countries.  Wisely,  much  of  this  new 
capital  has  been  invested  in  the 
newer  and  more  undeveloped  coun- 
tries of  the  world.  This  will  insure 
our  having  a  hand  in  building  rail- 
roads, establishing  industries,  con- 
structing lighting  and  power  plants, 
and  so  forth,  and  this  in  turn  will 
make  it  certain  that  our  manufac- 
turers will  share  in  the  business  of 
furnishing  equipment  for  such  un- 
dertakings. This  is  a  new  departure 
for  American  capital.  It  is  a  step 
that  has  long  been  recognized  as 
necessary  if  we  are  to  find  good  for- 
eign markets  for  our  most  impor- 
tant products.  Coming  at  the  time 
when  our  exports  to  such  countries 
are  growing  so  rapidly,  it  can  be 
taken  as  an  indication  that  a  large 
share  of  our  new  business  is  to  be 
permanent. 

A  table  is  given  here  to  show  as 
simply  as  possible  how  our  trade  to 
the  various  corners  of  the  earth  has 
increased  recently.  It  will  be  seen 
at  once  how  important  a  share  of  our 
exports  go  to  regions  far  removed 
from  the  war  zone. 

The  growth  of  our  trade  with 
South  America  has  appealed  to  the 
popular  imagination  more  than  that 
with  any  other  district  outside  of 
Europe,  and  the  assurance  that  a 
much  larger  business  can  be  built 


TOTAL  VALUES  OF  EXPORTS  FROM  THE  UNITED   STATES  TO  DIFFERENT 

PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD  DURING  THE  FISCAL  YEARS  ENDED  JUNE  30, 

1914,  1915,  AND  1916 


Country 

1914 

1915 

1916 

Relative  per 
cent  of 
1916  to  1914 

Belligerent  Europe.  .  . 
Other  Europe  
Canada  
Other  North  America. 
South  America  
Asia  .  . 

$1,299,808,448 
186,690,281 
344,716,981 
183,927,981 
124,539,909 
113,425,616 

$1,565,980,315 
405,454,372 
300,686,812 
176,388,915 
99,323,957 
114,470,493 

$2,646,037,657 
353,145,772 
466,884,415 
266,005,613 
180,356,555 
278,470,228 

203.6 
189.1 
135.4 
144.6 
144.8 
245.5 

Australia  and  Oceania 
Africa  

83,568,417 
27,901,515 

77,764,725 
28,519,751 

99,241,555 
43,517,070 

118.7 
155.9 

Total 

$2  364  579  148 

$2  768  589  340 

$4,333,658,865 

183.3 

DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


239 


up  with  our  nearest  neighbors  and 
can  be  retained  has  not  only  con- 
centrated the  attention  of  manufac- 
turers and  exporters  on  South  Amer- 
ican markets  and  the  problems 
connected  with  entering  them  to 
advantage,  but  has,  for  the  first 
time  in  our  history,  aroused  an  am- 
bition in  many  young  men  to  learn 
the  language  and  customs  of  the 
countries  that  lie  to  the  south  of 
us.  There  are  hundreds  of  young 
men  now  preparing  for  careers  in 
foreign  trade  where  formerly  there 
was  one,  and  South  America  more 
than  any  other  section  has  been  the 
lodestone.  If  this  sudden  interest 
does  nothing  more  than  prepare 
young  Americans  for  the  export 
trade  it  will  have  been  worth  while. 
The  trade  with  the  individual 
South  American  countries  in  1916 
as  compared  with  1914,  the  year 
preceding  the  war,  deserves  careful 
study.  This  country  sold  Argentina 
$65,993,611  worth  of  goods  in  1916, 
whereas  in  1914  our  total  sales 
amounted  to  only  $45,179,089.  Im- 
ports from  Argentina  increased  even 
more  rapidly,  for  in  1916  we  pur- 
chased $112,512,420  worth  as  com- 
pared with  $45,123,988  worth  in 
1914.  The  imports  were  as  usual 
raw  materials.  Exports  to  Bolivia 
showed  only  a  slight  gain — from 
$1,145,555  to  $1,367,891— while  our 
imports  from  that  country  amounted 
to  $204,904  as  compared  to  practi- 
cally nothing  before  the  war.  Ex- 
ports to  Brazil  show  an  increase 
from  $29,963,914  to  $41,202,277,  an 
encouraging  development  that  holds 
much  promise  for  the  future.  Our 
purchases  from  Brazil  increased 
from  $101,329,073  in  1914  to  $132,- 
663,984  in  1916.  Chile  bought  $17,- 
432,392  worth  of  goods  from  the 
United  States  in  1914,  but  in  1916 
the  amount  spent  with  us  had  in- 
creased to  $24,289,652.  We  in  turn 
greatly  increased  our  purchases  in 
Chile,  the  figures  being  $25,722,128 
in  1914  and  no  less  than  $64,154,859 
in  1916.  Our  exports  to  Colombia 
increased  from  $6,786,153  to  $11,- 
125,232  and  our  purchases  increased 


from  $16,051,120  to  $21,458,029.  Sales 
to  Ecuador,  while  not  so  important 
as  they  ought  to  be,  increased  from 
$2,967,759  in  1914  to  $3,462,040,  and 
purchases  rose  from  $3,595,456  to 
$5,848,290  in  1916.  Paraguay  is  the 
one  country  with  which  business, 
both  import  and  export,  has  fallen 
off.  Our  exports  to  that  country 
amounted  to  only  $173,191  in  1914, 
but  in  1916  they  had  fallen  off  to  a 
mere  $73,452.  Similarly,  our  im- 
ports fell  from  $64,651  in  1914  to 
$53,337  in  1916.  Exports  to  Peru 
increased  from  $7,141,252  to  $10,- 
173,176  and  imports  from  that  coun- 
try increased  from  $12,175,723  to 
$24,326,689.  Our  trade  with  Uru- 
guay has  resembled  that  of  Peru 
so  far  as  quantity  goes,  our  exports 
in  1914  amounting  to  $5,641,266  and 
in  1916  to  $10,274,426,  whereas  our 
imports  increased  from  $7,715,144  to 
$14,475,478.  Figures  for  Venezuela 
are  also  somewhat  similar,  our  ex- 
ports to  that  country  increasing 
from  $5,401,386  in  1914  to  $8,999,272 
in  1916,  and  our  purchases  showing  a 
jump  from  $9,763,069  to  $14,912,448. 
The  foregoing  figures  are  signifi- 
cant not  only  in  showing  that  our 
exports  to  South  American  countries 
have  increased  in  a  satisfactory 
manner  in  the  last  two  years,  but 
also  in  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  these  countries  are  now  selling 
a  greater  quantity  of  goods  in  this 
country.  Our  purchases  consist  of 
such  essential  raw  materials  as  cof- 
fee, rubber,  tin  ore,  nitrates  and 
hides,  which  we  need  in  large  quan- 
tities. Before  the  war  much  of  the 
rubber,  all  of  the  tin,  and  some  of 
the  hides  went  to  Europe,  there  to 
be  manufactured  and  shipped  across 
the  Atlantic  again  to  the  United 
States.  Probably  when  the  war  is 
over  the  European  countries  will  im- 
port all  the  raw  materials  they  need 
direct  from  South  America,  but  it 
is  very  unlikely  that  they  will  ever 
again  supply  us  extensively  with 
goods  manufactured  from  South 
American  materials.  This  condition 
not  only  makes  for  greater  inde- 
pendence on  our  part,  but  brings  us 


240 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


into  much  better  relation  to  the 
South  American  countries. 

The  growth  in  our  export  trade 
has  been  more  rapid  than  the 
growth  in  our  imports  and  is  a  sub- 
ject that  is  much  more  interesting 
to  most  Americans.  It  is  quite  nat- 
ural to  dwell  at  greater  length  upon 
what  we  succeed  in  selling  than 
upon  what  we  have  to  buy.  Never- 
theless the  recent  great  growth  in 
our  purchases  abroad  is  significant 
and  deserves  the  most  careful  study. 
In  1914  we  purchased  abroad  $1,- 
893,925,657  worth  of  goods,  which  is 
not  far  from  normal,  but  in  1916 
we  spent  no  less  than  $2,197,883,510 
for  foreign  products.  The  table  that 
follows  shows  the  purchases  made 
by  the  United  States  since  1904,  by 
continents. 

It  will  be  seen  that  imports  have 
fallen  off  from  Europe  only.  It  has 
been  impossible  for  the  manufactur- 
ers in  the  belligerent  countries  to 
concentrate  on  their  foreign  trade 
as  they  did  before  the  war ;  so,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  we  have  had 
more  money  to  spend  than  ever  be- 
fore, our  purchases  of  manufactured 
goods  from  Europe  have  fallen  off. 
In  many  quarters  this  fact  is  looked 
upon  as  a  favorable  one,  inasmuch 
as  it  has  resulted  in  a  tendency  to 
rely  more  on  our  own  industries. 
Certainly  our  American  ingenuity 
has  had  plenty  of  opportunity  of 


proving  itself.  We  are  now  success- 
fully manufacturing  many  lines  of 
goods  that  were  formerly  exclusive- 
ly imported. 

From  other  parts  of  the  world, 
however,  we  are  making  heavier  pur- 
chases than  ever  before,  but  such 
purchases,  as  in  the  case  of  South 
American  countries  already  men- 
tioned, have  been  very  largely  raw 
materials,  which  formerly  we  im- 
ported indirectly  in  an  unmanufac- 
tured state  through  European  mid- 
dlemen or  were  manufactured  for 
us  by  European  manufacturers.  This 
establishment  of  direct  relations 
with  the  newer  and  more  undevel- 
oped countries  of  the  world  -will  be 
most  helpful,  not  only  in  saving 
freight  charges  and  in  doing  our 
own  work  in  our  own  factories,  but 
in  effecting  closer  trade  relations 
with  the  producing  countries.  An 
idea  of  the  part  played  by  raw  ma- 
terials and  manufactured  goods  in 
our  import  trade  since  1870  may  be 
had  from  the  two  tables  on  page  241, 
the  second  table  showing  in  some 
detail  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  in  the  last  two  years. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  recent 
trend  of  our  import  trade  does  not 
threaten  American  interests.  We 
are  making  more  and  more  of  the 
manufactured  goods  we  need,  and 
importing  more  and  more  of  the 
raw  materials  that  formerly  were 


PURCHASES    MADE    BY    THE    UNITED    STATES,    1904-1916 


Fiscal  Years 
Ending 
June  30  — 

Imports 

Europe 

North 
America 

South 
America 

Asia  and 
Oceania 

Africa 

Total 

1904  
1905  
1906  
1907  
1908  

Dollars 
498,697,379 
540,773,092 
633,292,184 
747,291,253 
608,014,147 
654,322,918 
806,270,280 
768,167,760 
819,585,326 
892,866,384 
895,602,868 
614,354,645 
612,252,709 

Dollars 
198,778,952 
227,229,145 
235,353,322 
263,576,349 
238,815,898 
253,999,920 
306,767,486 
305,496,793 
334,072,039 
361,943,659 
427,399,354 
473,079,796 
591,895,543 

Dollars 
120,364,113 
150,795,800 
140,422,876 
160,165,537 
124,998,590 
163,878,724 
196,164,786 
182,623,760 
215,089,316 
217,734,629 
222,677,075 
261,489,563 
391,562,018 

Dollars 
163,820,151 
187,371,412 
204,865,329 
242,260,820 
206,222,482 
224,610,035 
230,255,139 
243,724,182 
261,932,365 
314,038,218 
329,096,884 
300,292,655 
533,407,455 

Dollars 
9,426,776 
11,343,622 
12,628,735 
21,127,466 
16,290,675 
15,108,627 
17,489,739 
27,213,620 
22,585,888 
26,425,344 
19,149,476 
24,953,081 
64,765,745 

Dollars 
991,087,371 
1,117,513,071 
1,226,562,446 
1,434,421,425 
1,194,341,792 
1,311,920,224 
1,556,947,430 
1,527,226,105 
1,653,264,934 
1,813,008,234 
1,893,925,857 
1,674,169,740 
2,197,883,510 

1909        

1910  

1911    

1912  
1913   

1914     

1915  
1916  

DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


241 


manufactured  for  us  by  other  coun- 
tries. For  the  most  part  the  raw 
materials  imported  are  such  as  we 
can  not  produce  at  home  or  can  not 
produce  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
meet  the  demand. 

Another  development  of  the  last 
two  years  is  our  transition  from  a 
debtor  to  a  creditor  nation.  At  least 
it  can  safely  be  said  that  we  are 
now  a  creditor  nation  so  far  as  cur- 
rent accounts  go.  This  has  been  the 
result,  of  course,  of  shipping  abroad 


here  at  home,  but  much  of  it  has 
been  invested  in  foreign  securities, 
as  already  mentioned.  Just  how 
much  has  been  so  invested  can  only 
be  estimated,  but  about  the  middle 
of  1916  the  figure  was  put  at  nearly 
a  billion  and  a  half  of  known  in- 
vestments, with  many  other  pro- 
posed loans  under  consideration. 
The  largest  loans  have  been  made 
to  the  belligerent  countries,  but  a 
steadily  increasing  amount  is  going 
into  the  more  undeveloped  countries 


AVERAGE  ANNUAL  IMPORTS  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  PROPORTION 
OF  RAW  MATERIALS  AND  MANUFACTURED  PRODUCTS,  1870  TO  1914 


Period 

Total  Value 

Foodstuffs 

Raw  Materials 

Manufactures 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

Value 

Per  Cent 
of  Total 

1870-1879. 
1880-1889. 
1890-1899. 
1900-1909. 
1910-1914. 

$512,021,878 
680,050,955 
757,264,781 
1,087,799,986 
1,688,874,472 

$189,618.034 
224,892,472 
261,688,223 
266.573,229 
397,517,016 

37.03 
33.07 
34.56 
24.51 
23.54 

$74,245,895 
132,740,135 
185,512,723 
357,425,263 
580,339,002 

14.50 
19.52 
24.50 
32.86 
34.36 

$238,691,827 
311,078,907 
303,883,186 
456,177,165 
696,400,401 

46.62 
45.74 
40.01 
41.94 
41.23 

IMPORTS   INTO   THE   UNITED   STATES,   CLASSIFIED   BY  GREAT   GROUPS 

ACCORDING  TO  USE  AND  DEGREE  OF  MANUFACTURE,  DURING  THE 

FISCAL  YEARS  ENDED  JUNE  30,  1914  AND  1916 


1914 

1916 

Great  Groups 

Value 

Per  Cent 

Value 

Per  Cent 

Crude  materials  for  use  in  manu- 
facturing 

$632  865  860 

33  42 

$944  105  228 

42  96 

Foodstuffs  in  crude  condition  and 
food  animals 

247,947  621 

13  09 

251  833  794 

11  46 

Foodstuffs  partly  or  wholly  manu- 
factured   

227,644,329 

12.02 

309,708,717 

14  09 

Manufactures    for   further   use   in 
manufacturing  
Manufactures  ready  for  consump- 
tion   

319,275,488 
449,318,214 

16.86 
23.72 

359,441,501 
315,353,634 

16.35 
14.35 

Miscellaneous  .        ....          

16,874,145 

89 

17,440,636 

79 

Total  

$1,893,925,657 

100  00 

$2,197,883,510 

100  .  00 

so  much  more  than  we  have  been 
importing,  which  has  enabled  us  to 
establish  credit  abroad,  to  buy  up 
American  securities  held  in  Euro- 
pean countries,  and  to  import  un- 
precedented quantities  of  gold.  Much 
of  this  newly  acquired  capital  has 
been  used  for  development  purposes 


for  development  purposes.  The  pur- 
chase of  American  securities  held 
abroad  has  proceeded  rapidly  during 
the  last  two  years  and  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  the  total  amount  of  paper 
so  repurchased  reaches  well  over  a 
billion  dollars.  Some  estimates  have 
put  it  as  high  as  two  billions. 


242 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


More  accurate  statistics  are  to  be 
had  on  the  imports  of  gold.  The  net 
inward  gold  movement  aggregated 
$456,032,344  for  the  twelve  months 
ended  September  30,  1916.  For  the 
year  previous  the  total  was  $205,- 
440,751,  showing  that  the  net  inward 
movement  has  doubled  within  a 
year.  More  gold  has  been  added  to 
our  store  in  two  years  than  has  ever 
been  added  to  the  supply  of  any 
nation  before  in  the  same  length  of 
time,  and  despite  all  pessimistic  pre- 
dictions it  seems  only  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  this  vast  accumulation 
will  be  a  powerful  factor  in  enabling 
the  country  to  hold  its  own  in  the 
world's  commerce  no  matter  what 
circumstances  may  arise.  It  will 
enable  us  to  maintain  ourselves  in 
foreign  markets  on  a  much  better 
footing  than  ever  before  and  will 
enable  us  to  meet  without  embar- 
rassment any  foreign  demands  for 
gold. 

Mention  has  already  been  made 
of  the  fact  that  we  have  been  deal- 
ing more  directly  with  some  of  the 
producing  countries.  A  few  special 
instances  will  be  of  interest  in  this 
connection.  For  a  great  many  years 
previous  to  the  war  the  world's  furs 
were  sold  through  London  and  Leip- 
sic.  Our  furs,  which  are  mostly 
seal,  were  sent  all  the  way  to 
London  to  be  sold,  and  not  until 
they  had  been  auctioned  off  and 
dressed  and  dyed  did  we  see  them 
again,  greatly  enhanced  in  price  as 
the  result  of  two  trips  across  the 
Atlantic,  duties,  and  foreign  labor. 
Furs  trapped  in  Northwestern  Can- 
ada likewise  were  shipped  across  the 
continent,  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
back  again  to  us.  The  war  gave  us 
the  opportunity  of  organizing  fur 
sales  in  this  country,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Government,  and  we 
have  learned  to  dress  and  dye  our 
furs  quite  as  well  as  anybody  ever 
did  it  for  us.  We  now  buy  the  fur 
skins  direct  from  the  countries  in 
which  they  are  trapped,  and  very 
likely  we  shall  continue  to  do  so 
when  the  war  is  over. 

We  are  buying  more  rubber  direct 


now  than  we  ever  did  before,  and 
there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why 
we  should  go  back  to  European  mid- 
dlemen in  the  future.  One  of  the 
most  important  developments  in  the 
way  of  direct  buying  has  been  the 
purchase  of  tin  ore  from  Bolivia. 
We  mine  no  tin  in  this  country  and 
have  always  been  content  to  have 
England  and  Germany  get  the  ore 
from  the  Straits  Settlements  and 
Bolivia  and  refine  it  for  us.  As  a 
result  of  the  difficulties  encountered 
in  getting  tin  in  this  manner  under 
war  time  conditions,  a  company  was 
organized  in  this  country  to  buy  ore 
direct  from  Bolivia  and  smelt  it  in 
this  country.  Fifteen  tons  of  the 
refined  metal  a  day  are  now  pro- 
duced here,  and  it  is  tin  of  the  very 
best  quality.  This  direct  dealing 
with  Bolivia  can  not  help  stimu- 
lating commercial  relations  between 
the  two  countries.  In  short,  it  may 
be  said  that  this  country  will  never 
in  the  future  be  wholly  satisfied 
with  indirect  buying  arrangements. 

Another  interesting  phase  of  our 
new  position  in  world's  trade  is  the 
increasing  tendency  to  substitute 
dollar  exchange  for  sterling  ex- 
change. Perhaps  it  is  premature  to 
say  that  the  substitution  is  or  is 
not  going  to  be-  permanent,  but  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  the  experiment, 
even  if  merely  tentative,  has  had 
the  effect  of  bringing  our  merchants 
into  much  closer  touch  with  the 
merchants  of  other  nations  than 
ever  before.  The  establishment  of 
branch  banks  in  South  America  is 
another  important  step  that  has 
been  taken  recently  in  an  effort  to 
put  our  dealings  with  our  South 
American  neighbors  on  a  more  satis- 
factory basis. 

In  conclusion  it  might  be  said 
that  the  pre-eminent  position  which 
the  United  States  has  come  to  oc- 
cupy in  the  last  two  years  has  then 
been  of  inestimable  benefit  in  stimu- 
lating the  industries  of  the  country, 
in  giving  us  an  international  point 
of  view,  and  in  making  it  possible 
to  get  into  closer  touch  than  ever 
before  with  the  manufacturers,  ex- 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    AMERICAN    COMMERCE 


243 


porters,  merchants,  importers  and 
bankers  of  other  countries,  and  it 
is  highly  desirable  that  we  do  not 
let  slip  the  advantages  we  have 
gained.  It  is  not  desirable,  of 
course,  that  we  go  on  exporting 
twice  as  much  as  we  import,  for 
international  trade  can  not  be  con- 
ducted on  any  such  basis  for  an  in- 
definite period,  but  it  will  be  greatly 
to  our  advantage  to  remain  the  first 
commercial  nation  and  to  retain  the 
best  of  the  great  business  so  recently 
acquired.  It  can  be  done  if  Amer- 
ican business  men  determine  that  it 
must  be  done,  if  they  realize  fully 
the  importance  of  foreign  trade. 
They  can  not  do  it  if  they  return  to 
the  indifferent  methods  that  pre- 
vailed when  the  home  market  was 
looked  upon  as  all-sufficient. 


The  necessity  of  foreign  trade 
need  not  be  dwelt  on  in  an  article 
of  this  kind.  Even  the  layman  has 
had  the  opportunity  in  the  last  two 
years  of  seeing  what  wonders  a 
thriving  foreign  business  can  accom- 
plish. The  fact  that  our  sales 
abroad  do  not  comprise  more  than 
1  to  5  per  cent  of  our  sales  at  home 
does  not  mean  that  the  foreign  sales 
are  of  trifling  importance,  as  was 
once  commonly  assumed.  The  point 
is  that  the  sales  to  outsiders  are 
large  enough  to  mean  .the  difference 
between  stagnation  and  prosperity. 
They  are  so  important  that  our  man- 
ufacturers cannot  afford  to  let  them 
fall  off,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that 
they  will  not  allow  any.  but  the  most 
temporary  part  of  our  new  business 
to  get  away  from  them. 


RACINE  REEF  LIGHTHOUSE  IN  WINTER 
GARB 


MODERN   METHODS   OF   ORE   HANDLING   IN   THE   HOLD   OF   A   SHIP 


CHAPTER  XX. 


COMMERCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL 
PREPAREDNESS 

By  Dr.  EDWARD  EWING  PRATT 

CHIEF    OP    THE     BUREAU     OF     FOREIGN     AND     DOMESTIC     COMMERCE,     DEPARTMENT     OF 

COMMERCE 


WE  are  indebted  to  the  great 
European  war  for  the  slogan 
"Preparedness."  The  word 
was  in  the  dictionary  before  hostil- 
ities began,  but  it  lacked  any  real 
vitality.  Americans  had  always  as- 
sumed that  they  were  pretty  well 
prepared  for  almost  any  eventuality, 
as  individuals  and  as  a  community. 
If  we  needed  to  fight  we  had  a  pop- 
ulation of  a  hundred  million  to  fall 
back  on;  if  we  ever  came  to  a  pass 
where  we  needed  more  foreign  trade, 
we  could  go  out  and  get  it;  if  we 
needed  to  make  things  that  others 
had  always  made  for  us,  all  we  had 
to  do  was  make  them.  We  were 
living  in  a  fool's  paradise. 

We  know  now  that  we  were  not 
adequately  prepared  to  do  anything 
but  drift  and  muddle  along  rather 
prosperously  by  virtue  of  immense 
resources,  favorable  geographical 
situation,  and  a  native  ingenuity 
and  resourcefulness  which  we  had 
inherited  from  our  pioneer  ances- 
tors. What  we  have  learned  about 
the  necessity  of  military  prepared- 
ness will  not  be  discussed  here.  This 
article  will  be  concerned  with  pre- 
paredness for  the  commercial  strug- 
gle which  will  come  when  peace  is 
declared  and.  with  the  preparations 
we  are  making  and  must  make  to 
achieve  industrial  independence  of 
the  older  manufacturing  nations  of 
Europe. 


As  has  been  said  many  times,  we 
have  become  the  leading  commercial 
nation  of  the  world.  This  is  not 
only  true,  but  is  becoming  increas- 
ingly evident  with  the  passing  of 
each  month.  In  August  and  Sep- 
tember, 1916,  our  exports  exceeded 
half  a  billion  dollars,  which  is  not 
only  a  higher  figure  than  we  ever 
reached  before,  but  is  much  larger 
than  any  nation  ever  achieved  be- 
fore. Our  imports  have  also 'grown 
rapidly,  but  the  balance  of  trade  in 
our  favor  has  attained  enormous 
proportions  and  our  industrial  pros- 
perity is  so  pronounced  and  so  real 
that  the  most  carping  critics  no 
longer  question  it.  The  question  is, 
can  this  great  trade  and  this  great 
prosperity  survive  the  war? 

It  is  certain  that  we  cannot  retain 
all  of  the  present  trade  and  it  is 
not  at  all  certain  that  we  can  continue 
as  prosperous  as  we  have  been 
throughout  1916.  But  it  is  certain, 
I  think,  that  we  need  not  suffer  so 
serious  a  disturbance  when  peace  is 
declared  as  has  been  pictured  in  some 
quarters.  We  have  acquired  much 
new  business  that  can  be  retained 
if  we  make  the  proper  efforts  to  re- 
tain it,  and  as  the  war  goes  on  our 
opportunities  for  acquiring  more 
business  of  that  sort  increase.  We 
need  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
necessity  of  keeping  our  hold  on 
as  much  of  our  newly  acquired  trade 


Copyright  by  Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


246 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


as  possible  when  the  war  is  over. 

We  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
are  under  the  necessity  of  holding 
our  own  in  foreign  markets  if  we 
are  to  avoid  difficulties  when  the 
war  orders  cease,  and  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  belligerent 
nations  will  be  under  the  necessity 
of  winning  back  their  old  markets 
if  they  are  to  meet  the  obligations 
they  have  incurred  in  the  war.  It 
will  be  a  bitter  fight,  with  no  quarter 
asked  and  no  quarter  given.  Our 
competitors  will  not  only  try  to  oust 
us  from  our  foreign  markets,  but 
undoubtedly  will  carry  the  fight 
right  into  our  home  markets. 

In  planning  to  meet  this  struggle 
we  must  consider  conditions  that 
will  arise  immediately  upon  the  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  and  also  the 
more  permanent  conditions  resulting 
from  the  war.  A  number  of  our 
important  industries  will  be  disar- 
ranged when  peace  is  made.  Manu- 
facturers of  munitions  and  other 
supplies  needed  by  the  armies  are 


well  aware  of  this  fact,  but  there 
are  two  classes  of  manufacturers 
who  are  not  facing  the  facts.  One 
class  is  manufacturing  the  materials 
that  go  into  the  munitions  and  the 
other  is  turning  out  goods  that  are 
not  munitions,  but  wrhich  are  re- 
quired for  military  purposes.  Such 
manufacturers  should  determine 
just  how  much  their  business  has 
been  stimulated  by  the  war,  and 
they  should  carefully  charge  enlarge- 
ments of  plant  and  equipment 
against  present  profits.  It  will  be 
necessary  also  to  keep  in  mind  the 
fact  that  soon  after  peace  is  made 
there  will  be  decided  changes  in  the 
trade  routes  of  the  world.  There 
will  be  important  readjustments  in 
the  principal  markets.  It  will  be 
an  important  matter  for  us  to  have 
a  large  influence  in  determining 
these  changes. 

The  permanent  effects  of  the  war 
are  of  equal  importance  to  us.  The 
European  nations  will  be  compelled 
to  seek  foreign  markets  as  they 


THE  CZAB  OF  RUSSIA  AND  MILITARY  OFFICEES  WITH  AMERICAN  BUILT  RED 
CROSS   AMBULANCE   IN   THE   FOREGROUND 


COMMERCIAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL    PREPAREDNESS 


247 


never  sought  them  before.  But  let  us 
consider  carefully  under  what  condi- 
tions they  will  be  obliged  to  seek 
them.  Will  they  be  as  formidable 
after  the  war  as  they  were  before? 
There  has  been  a  wide  difference  of 
opinion  among  economists  as  to  how 
the  cost  of  production  in  Europe 
after  the  war  will  compare  with 
what  it  was  before  the  war,  but 
the  longer  the  war  continues  the  bet- 
ter agreed  are  the  authorities  that 
costs  as  a  whole  will  be  higher.  There 
has  been  a  tremendous  loss  of  men, 
of  labor  power.  Millions  have  been 
killed  and  other  millions  incapaci- 
tated. In  almost  all  the  belligerent 
countries  there  has  been  a  rapid  and 
steady  diminution  of  capital.  It  has 
been  used  up  in  destruction  instead 
of  production.  Taxes  are  certain 
to  be  excessive  for  years  to  come, 
for  immense  debts  have  accumulat- 
ed. Fiscal  affairs  will  be  disorgan- 
ized. These  facts  are  given  here 
to  show  that  the  increased  cost  of 
production  in  our  country  should  not 
be  considered  an  insurmountable 
handicap  in  the  coming  struggle. 
The  point  is  that  we  are  confronted 
with  no  insurmountable  difficulties. 
There  is  no  circumstance  which 
definitely  debars  us  from  holding 
our  own  when  the  test  comes. 

The  problems  in  foreign  trade 
which  we  must  work  out  are  dif- 
ficult ones,  however,  and  deserve  our 
most  careful  attention,  for  the  sta- 
bility of  our  prosperity  will  depend 
almost  entirely  upon  our  success  in 
such  trade.  It  was  our  foreign 
trade  which  was  interrupted  when 
the  war  broke  out,  and  it  w*as  this 
interruption  which  threatened  the 
most  serious  economic  consequences. 
The  war  taught  us  that  our  domes- 
tic prosperity  is  most  vitally  con- 
cerned with  the  prosperity  of  our 
foreign  trade,  and  it  is  for  success 
in  this  foreign  trade  that  we  must 
carefully  plan.  Let  us  consider  a 
number  of  important  factors  that 
will  have  a  bearing  upon  our  success 
in  such  trade. 

First   of   all   comes   the  question 


of  men  properly  prepared  to  carry 
on  our  business  with  and  in  foreign 
countries.  We  have  never  had  an 
adequate  supply  of  such  men.  The 
young  American  has  never  seriously 
considered  preparing  himself  for 
such  work.  Other  fields  have  ap- 
peared more  attractive  to  him. 
Where  we  have  had  one  capable 
man  for  such  work  the  English  and 
Germans  have  had  dozens  or  per- 
haps hundreds.  We  must  set  about 
painting  the  advantages  of  the  for- 
eign field  in  their  proper  colors  and 
we  must  at  once  concern  ourselves 
with  training  men  in  a  practical, 
efficient  manner.  We  must  have 
men  who  know  business,  who  know 
their  own  particular  business,  who 
know  foreign  languages,  who  know 
how  to  sell  goods,  and,  above  all, 
men  who  can  go  into  foreign  mar- 
kets with  a  sympathetic  point  of 
view.  For  the  foreign  field  we  need 
men  who  are  diplomats  as  well  as 
drummers. 

We  must  also  pay  more  attention 
to  financing  foreign  trade.  We  must 
familiarize  ourselves  not  only  with 
the  extension  of  credits,  the  estab- 
lishment of  branch  banks,  the  dis- 
counting of  paper,  but  with  the 
whole  mechanism  of  foreign  ex- 
change and  the  investment  of  Ameri- 
can capital  in  foreign  countries.  Of 
such  things  most  of  us  have  known 
very  little.  We  must  be  willing  and 
able  to  provide  funds  for  the  con- 
struction of  public  utilities,  factor- 
ies, mining  plants,  warehouses,  and 
other  public1  improvements. 

The  establishment  of  a  convention- 
al tariff  system  's  another  factor 
that  will  be  necessary  in  our  cam- 
paign for  foreign  trade.  Many  na- 
tions are  able,  by  reason  of  their 
tariff  systems,  not  only  to  prohibit 
the  sale  of  or  to  handicap  the  im- 
portation of  commodities  from  econ- 
omically unfriendly  nations,  but 
they  are  also  able  to  encourage  the 
exportation  of  their  own  commodi- 
ties by  advantageous  bargains  with 
countries  which  are  economically 
friendly.  A  conventional  tariff  sys- 


248 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


tern  is  simply  a  tariff  system  with 
an  international  point  of  view. 

It  is  also  important  that  we  pre- 
pare to  become  the  market  place  of 
the  world  for  certain  staple  com- 
modities. In  the  past  we  have  been 
content  to  purchase  our  rubber,  tin, 
wool,  furs  and  so  on  through  Eng- 
land and  Germany.  It  is  necessary 
that  we  handle  some  of  these  sup- 
plies ourselves.  We  must  prepare 
the  machinery  for  handling  them 
economically — the  facilities  for  grad- 
ing the  articles,  for  buying  and  sell- 
ing, for  settling  disputes,  and  so  on. 
We  have  already  made  some  satis- 
factory progress  in  this  direction, 
and  there  is  no  good  reason  why  we 
should  ever  go  back  to  the  old  way 
of  buying  through  European  middle- 
men. 

One  of  the  most  important  factors 
in  our  campaign  will  be  our  mer- 
chant marine.  We  are  turning  out 
new  tonnage  more  rapidly  now  than 
any  other  nation,  and  we  should 
continue  to  do  so.  Large  accessions 
to  our  merchant  fleet  have  resulted 
from  the  Ship  Registry  Act.  We 
have  heard  many  opinions  to  the 
effect  that  our  navigation  laws  are 
antiquated  and  operate  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  American  boats,  yet 
there  is  no  important  difference  be- 
tween our  laws  and  those  of  other 
important  maritime  countries,  and 
there  will  be  fewer  differences  as 
time  goes  on  and  certain  European 
countries  have  an  opportunity  to 
carry  out  plans  formulated  a  short 
time  before  the  war  started. 

So  much  for  some  of  the  important 
factors  we  must  bear  in  mind  in 
making  our  preparations.  Now  let 
us  consider  some  of  the  steps  al- 
ready taken. 

Thanks  to  the  Federal  Reserve 
Act  our  financial  resources  are  for 
the  first  time  in  our  history  mobil- 
ized for  foreign  trade. 

To  the  Federal  Trade  Commission 
we  can  look  for  guidance  in  the  mat- 
ter of  co-operating  in  foreign  trade. 
This  commission  will  also  see  to  it 
that  we  are  protected  from  unfair 


competition  in  our  own  markets  on 
the  part  of  foreign  manufacturers. 

A  Tariff  Commission  has  been 
authorized  by  Congress.  The  bene- 
fits that  will  come  from  a  scientific, 
non-partisan  commission  of  this  sort 
are  too  numerous  to  mention.  In 
forming  this  commission  we  have 
taken  one  of  the  most  important 
steps  in  the  direction  of  commercial 
preparedness. 

A  Shipping  Board  has  also  been 
brought  into  being.  For  the  first 
time  in  our  history  we  now  have  an 
efficient  instrument  for  shaping  the 
growth  and  policies  of  our  merchant 
marine. 

Definite  and  constructive  work  in 
advancing  our  trade  frontiers  is  be- 
ing done  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Commerce,  of  the  De- 
partment of  Commerce.  This  bur- 
eau collects  information  about  for- 
eign markets  for  American  goods. 
The  sources  are  the  consuls,  the 
newly  appointed  commercial  at- 
taches, and  a  corps  of  traveling 
special  agents.  The  office  at  Wash- 
ington is  the  warehouse,  and  the 
staff  there  and  at  the  district  offices 
is  engaged  in  selling  the  information 
for  action.  Action  is  the  price  and 
results  are  the  object  of  our  work. 
The  Bureau  is  rapidly  improving  in 
efficiency. 

Private  corporations  have  been 
organized  for  financing  foreign  en- 
terprises and  large  sums  of  Ameri- 
can capital  have  been  made  avail- 
able for  use  in  countries  that  form- 
erly depended  entirely  upon  Euro- 
pean financiers.  Nothing  will  sta- 
bilize our  newly  acquired  foreign 
trade  quite  so  effectively  as  the  ap- 
pearance of  American  gold. 

The  lumber  manufacturers  of  the 
West  have  organized  an  export 
sales  company  to  assist  in  the  sale 
of  Douglas  fir  in  foreign  markets. 
This  company  will  undertake  the 
grading  of  lumber  for  export,  the 
proper  seasoning  of  such  lumber,  and 
an  extensive  propaganda.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  steps  that  any 
American  industry  has  taken  in  this 


COMMERCIAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL    PREPAREDNESS 


249 


direction.  It  should  be  studied  care- 
fully by  every  other  industry  de- 
sirous of  taking  steps  to  insure  it- 
self against  disaster  when  the  war 
is  over. 

There  is  much  that  remains  to  be 
done  before  we  can  look  forward 
with  complete  assurance  that  when 
the  war  is  ended  we  shall  be  able 
to  hold  the  trade  we  have  recently 
acquired  in  the  world's  markets. 
We  are  still  in  the  midst  of  busy 
preparations  for  the  future,  or 
should  be.  We  cannot  prepare  too 
carefully,  because  failure  will  mean 
a  depression  from  which  it  may  take 
years  to  recover. 

There  is  another  phase  of  indus- 
trial preparedness  quite  distinct 
from  that  concerned  with  hold- 
ing our  own  in  foreign  markets. 
I  mean  preparedness  to  produce 
here  at  home  all  articles  that  are 
essential  to  our  well  being.  We 
must  make  ourselves  independent  of 
the  manufacturers  of  foreign  coun- 
tries. That  does  not  mean  that  we 
must  sever  all  relations  with  foreign 
manufacturers,  but  it  does  mean  that 
we  should  be  in  a  position  to  get 
along  without  them  if  need  be — if 
there  should  be  another  great  war 
between  the  important  manufactur- 
ing countries  of  Europe  or  if  we 
should  get  into  such  a  war  ourselves. 

In  a  large  measure  we  are  al- 
ready independent.  If  Intercourse 
with  every  other  nation  in  the  world 
were  cut  off,  we  could  manage  to 
get  along.  We  could  produce  suf- 
ficient food  for  everyone  and  suf- 
ficient clothing  and  fuel.  Our  iron 
and  steel  industry  is  practically  self- 
contained.  Building  materials  we 
have  in  plenty.  There  would  be  no 
suffering  for  lack  of  real  necessi- 
ties. Inconvenience  and  annoyance 
there  would  be  though,  and,  if  we 
were  involved  in  a  great  war  our- 
selves, perhaps  a  serious  shortage 
of  some  materials  essential  for  the 
manufacture  of  munitions.  We  de- 
pend upon  other  countries  for  many 
lines  that  we  would  sorely  miss. 
We  know  it  now,  for  we  have  missed 


them  during  the  last  two  years.  Are 
we  going  to  be  in  the  same  position 
some  time  in  the  future? 

We  have  made  considerable  pro- 
gress in  establishing  new  industries 
to  supply  goods  formerly  made  for 
us  by  Europe  and  in  expanding  old 
industries  to  meet  the  war-time  de- 
mand for  such  goods.  These  new 
industries  have  resulted  either  be- 
cause certain  lines  of  goods  former- 
ly received  from  the  Central  Powers 
and  Belgium  have  been  cut  off  alto- 
gether or  because  accustomed  sup- 
plies from  the  Allies  have  been  great- 
ly reduced  by  the  shortage  of  ships. 
In  either  case  we  are  learning  to 
manufacture  goods  that  we  previ- 
ously purchased  abroad  and  this  ex- 
perience will  undoubtedly,  in  the 
long  run,  be  of  more  real  benefit  to 
the  country  than  the  temporary  mu- 
nitions business. 

Our  principal  purchases  from  Ger- 
many, in  the  order  of  their  value, 
have  been  hides  and  furs,  cotton 
manufactures,  dyes  and  chemicals, 
machinery  and  other  manufactures 
of  iron  and  steel,  potash,  pottery, 
silk  and  silk  manufactures,  toys, 
glace  leather  and  glace-leather 
gloves,  rubber,  paper  and  paper 
manufactures,  and  salt.  Germany 
had  a  practical  monopoly  of  several 
of  these  classes — such  as  dyes  and 
certain  chemicals,  potash  and  toys. 
It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  say 
that  the  cutting  off  of  these  lines 
was  a  serious  matter  for  us.  We 
soon  realized  that  we  must  make  a 
serious  effort  to  manufacture  our 
own  coal-tar  products  and  at  least  a 
certain  amount  of  our  own  potash. 

How  well  we  have  succeeded  with 
the  coal-tar  dyes  is  pretty  generally 
known.  Not  every  user  of  dyed 
goods  is  wholly  satisfied  that  the 
quality  of  our  dyes  is  yet  all  that  it 
should  be,  but  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  demand  on  the  hur- 
riedly built  plants  was  enormous 
and  that  in  some  cases  it  was  in- 
evitable that  quantity  rather  than 
quality  should  be  given  first  con- 
sideration. Improvement  in  quality 


250 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


has  taken  place  steadily,  however, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  much  more 
fault  will  be  found  in  that  direction. 
We  are  now  producing  about  half 
the  ordinary  requirement  of  some 
29,000  tons  annually  and  the  differ- 
ence has  been  partly  made  up  by 
the  use  of  natural  dyes.  Congress 
has  accorded  protection  to  the  new 
industry  in  the  shape  of  additional 
tariff  and  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce  has  supplied  a 
detailed  census  of  the  dyes  we  im- 
ported in  normal  times.  This  census 
is  aimed  to  assist  manufacturers  in 
determining  how  much  of  each  color 
is  actually  needed  by  the  dye  users 
of  the  country.  Previous  to  the  publi- 
cation of  this  work  only  our  dyestuff 
importers  had  any  such  knowledge 
of  the  market.  One  Buffalo  manu- 
facturer has  stated  that  the  census 
has  saved  him  a  million  dollars  and 
years  of  wasted  effort. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  coal- 
tar  products  for  which  we  formerly 
depended  upon  foreign  manufactur- 
ers, including  carbolic  acid,  aspirin, 
acetanilid,  photographic  developers, 
salicylic  acid,  saccharin,  creosote  and 


benzoic  acid.  These  are  all  manu- 
factured at  home  now,  although  not 
in  the  quantity  that  might  be  wished. 
Prices  are  very  high.  But  we  have 
demonstrated  our  ability  to  manu- 
facture them  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  we  shall  allow  the  experience 
to  go  for  naught. 

The  lack  of  potash  has  been  a 
sore  point.  The  German  deposits  cau 
be  worked  so  cheaply  that  in  the 
past  there  has  been  no  incentive 
to  recover  the  material  from  kelp, 
alunite  or  other  sources,  but  when 
the  German  supply  was  cut  off  there 
began  an  eager  searching  of  our  own 
resources.  The  result  has  been  that 
we  have  made  considerable  progress 
in  recovering  potash  from  kelp,  alu- 
nite, the  brine  of  certain  alkaline 
lakes,  tobacco  stems,  mica  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  Portland  cement. 
The  supply  has  been  barely  sufficient 
for  industrial  use,  however,  'and  our 
fields  have  had  to  do  without  it. 

But  our  children  have  not  been 
obliged  to  do  without  toys.  Ameri- 
can ingenuity  stepped  in  quickly 
when  the  supply  of  German  toys 
was  cut  off  and  so  far  as  novelty 


AGRICULTURAL    FAIR    AT    JOHANNESBURG,    SOUTH    AFRICA,    SHOWING 
AMERICAN  MOTOR  CARS  AND  AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS 


COMMERCIAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL    PREPAREDNESS 


251 


goods  are  concerned  we  are  better 
supplied  now  than  ever.  Good 
progress  has  also  been  made  in  imi- 
tating typical  German  products,  and 
it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Santa 
Glaus  will  ever  again  import  heavily 
from  abroad  to  fill  our  stockings. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  we  are  doing 
some  foreign  business  in  this  line 
ourselves  and  satisfactory  relations 
have  already  been  established  with 
dealers  in  England,  Australia  and 
South  America. 

We  are  now  importing  tin  ore 
from  Bolivia  and  doing  our  own 
smelting.  Formerly  we  depended 
almost  entirely  upon  England 
and  Germany  for  our  refined  tin. 
These  countries  bought  their  sup- 
plies of  ore  and  partly  refined 
tin  from  the  Straits  Settlements 
and  Bolivia  and  did  the  work 
of  completing  the  refining  for  us. 
The  war  interfered  with  getting 
the  supply  in  this  manner  and 
a  firm  was  organized  to  import  the 
ore  from  Bolivia  and  smelt  it  in 
this  country.  The  new  plant  is  now 
turning  out  fifteen  tons  of  the  finest 
tin  a  day.  We  need  about  45,000 
tons  a  year. 

An  attempt  is  being  made  to  es- 
tablish an  all-American  linen  in- 
dustry. For  years  before  the  war 
started  the  United  States  was  the 
greatest  consumer  of  linen  goods  in 
the  world  and  practically  all  such 
goods  were  purchased  abroad.  The 
war  has  greatly  interfered  with 
these  imports,  for  Russia  is  by  far 
the  greatest  producer  of  the  raw 
flax  fiber  required  by  the  Irish,  Bel- 
gian and  French  mills.  In  this  coun- 
try flax  has  been  raised  almost  en- 
tirely for  the  seed,  which  is  used 
to  manufacture  linseed  oil,  and  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  has  esti- 
mated that  in  1915  there  were  some 
3,000,000  acres  devoted  to  this  crop. 
Of  this  great  total  only  2,000  acres 
were  planted  in  flax  for  fiber,  the 
yield  for  this  purpose  being  esti- 
mated at  only  4,000,000  pounds.  It 
should  be  kept  in  mind  that  flax 
growing  for  seed  and  flax  growing 


for  fiber  are  two  separate  and  dis- 
tinct industries.  To  some  extent 
flax  is  grown  for  both  seed  and 
fiber,  but  the  farmer  must  decide 
which  is  to  be  the  main  product  and 
which  the  by-product,  just  as  the 
sheep  raiser  must  decide  whether 
wool  or  mutton  is  to  be  the  main 
consideration  when  he  selects  the 
stock  he  is  to  raise.  In  Russia  the 
flax  grower  not  only  raises  the  flax 
but  prepares  the  fiber  for  the  mills, 
and  this  is  a  disagreeable  and  in- 
sanitary process  and  one  that  de- 
pends upon  very  cheap  labor.  The 
problem  in  this  country  was  to  find 
a  satisfactory  chemical  process  of 
preparing  the  fiber  that  could  be 
carried  on  in  a  factory.  Such  a 
process  has  apparently  been  worked 
out,  for  several  important  concerns 
are  now  buying  flax  on  a  large  scale 
in  the  West.  They  are  also  assist- 
ing the  farmers  in  a  financial  way. 
The  manufacture  of  the  coarser 
goods  from  this  straw  is  now  being 
carried  on  successfully  and  in  time 
the  high-grade  linens  will  be  made 
also,  in  spite  of  the  reputation  of 
foreign  makes.  In  the  past  our 
foreign  linen  bill  has  been  some- 
where between  25  and  30  million 
dollars  annually. 

The  manufacture  of  certain  lines 
of  Cotton  goods  has  expanded  in  a 
surprising  manner  since  the  war 
started.  There  has  been  a  marked 
increase  in  the  production  of  fine 
count  and  novelty  fabrics  and  manu- 
facturers have  demonstrated  their 
ability  in  designing  and  finishing 
such  goods.  Embroidery  cotton, 
both  mercerized  and  plain  finished, 
heretofore  produced  almost  exclu- 
sively abroad,  is  being  made  satis- 
factorily by  domestic  spinners.  There 
has  also  been  an  increase  in  the 
manufacture  of  brass  bobbin  yarn 
for  lace  manufacturers.  The 'large 
demand  for  all  fine  counts,  combed, 
gassed  and  mercerized  yarns  has 
forced  a  considerable  increase  in 
production.  Scrubbing,  wiping  and 
allied  cloths  produced  with  yarns 
spun  from  cotton  waste,  and. hereto- 


252 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


fore  imported  largely  from  Germany 
and  Austria,  are  now  made  in  this 
country. 

The  shutting  off  of  the  supply  of 
full-fashioned  hosiery  formerly  im- 
ported from  the  Chemnitz  district  in 
Germany  has  greatly  stimulated  the 
production  of  such  hosiery  in  this 
country,  as  well  as  some  grades  of 
fine-gaged  seamless  hosiery.  The 
shortage  of  dyes  has  been  the  only 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  completely 
meeting  the  demand  for  the  best 
grades  of  hosiery. 

The  only  large  artificial-silk  plant 
in  this  country  has  doubled  its  ca- 
pacity since  the  war  started  and 
it  is  said  that  several  other  such 
plants  are  to  be  started. 

Several  firms  that  previous  to  the 
war  imported  loopers  and  flat  bar 
knitting  machines  have  started  the 
manufacture  of  these  articles. 

Before  the  war  this  country  de- 
pended almost  as  a  matter  of  course 
upon  German  and  Austrian  sources 
for  sugar-beet  seed  with  which  to 
keep  going  our  flourishing  young 
beet-sugar  industry.  Ordinarily  the 
consumption  of  such  seed  in  this 
country  is  about  135,000  bags,  or 
approximately  15,000,000  pounds, 
and  this  is  almost  exactly  the 
amount  of  seed  we  imported  in  1913. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  production 
of  seed  in  1916  was  60,000  bags  and 
that  in  1917  we  shall  have  a  yield 
of  85,000  bags.  The  present  pro- 
ducers assert  that  they  are  going 
right  ahead  until  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  depend  upon  outside 
sources. 

An  American  industry  with  a  mil- 
lion dollar  market  has  come  into 
existence  as  a  result  of  cutting  off 
the  imports  of  petroleum  from  Rus- 
sia. By  the  end  of  1914  at  least  a 
score  of  American  refiners  were  ex- 
perimenting in  the  new  field  and  at 
least  ten  sources  of  domestic  white 
oil  for  medicinal  purposes  were  de- 
veloped. These  new  American  prod- 
ucts are  quite  the  equal  of  the  Rus- 
sian product  and  will  probably  hold 
the  market  permanently. 


The  war  found  us  unprepared  to 
manufacture  enough  lanolin,  or  re- 
fined wool  grease,  to  meet  the  de- 
mand. Ordinarily  we  import  about 
12,000,000  pounds  of  crude  wool 
grease  and  2,500,000  pounds  of  lan- 
olin. The  domestic  production  of 
crude  grease  is  about  6,000,000 
pounds,  but  very  little  lanolin  has 
ever  been  made  at  home.  We  have 
always  used  the  crude  grease  in  tan- 
neries, cordage  factories,  etc.,  and 
left  to  others  the  work  of  prepar- 
ing the  refined  wool  fat,  so  valuable 
in  salves,  ointments  and  emulsions. 
Now  we  are  at  work  doing  our  own 
refining. 

A  well-known  St.  Louis  firm  is 
dressing  and  dyeing  10,000  sealskins 
by  a  process  formerly  used  only  in 
England.  The  plant  is  being  ex- 
panded. In  the  past  we  sent  the 
skins  to  London  for  dressing  and 
dyeing,  in  spite  of  the  fact' that  we 
are  the  largest  producers  of  seal- 
skins in  the  world  and  the  largest 
consumer.  The  first  sale  of  fully 
dressed  and  dyed  sealskins  wholly 
"made  in  America"  ever  held  in  this 
country  took  place  in  October,  1916. 
We  shall  never  go  back  to  the  old 
way  of  carrying  on  this  business. 

Within  the  last  two  years  there 
has  been  introduced  into  this  coun- 
try the  chemical  porcelain  industry, 
with  the  help  of  the  Bureau  of 
Standards.  Only  a  short  time  ago 
there  was  not  an  American  manu- 
facturer who  believed  chemical 
porcelain  could  be  made  from  Amer- 
ican materials  in  American  factor- 
ies. Now  two  establishments  are 
making  the  best  type  of  modern 
chemical  porcelain. 

In  the  past  much  of  the  clay  used 
in  this  country  in  the  manufacture 
of  porcelain  came  from  England, 
that  for  the  manufacture  of  cruci- 
bles and  other  high  refractories  from 
Germany,  and  that  required  for 
other  fine  products  from  France. 
Experts  in  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce have  pointed  out  that  clays 
for  all  these  purposes  may  be  ob- 
tained in  the  United  States  and  by 


COMMERCIAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL    PREPAREDNESS 


253 


proper  treatment  be  made  equal  and 
in  many  cases  superior  to  the  ma- 
terial heretofore  supplied  by  Europe. 
Many  of  these  clays  are  found  in 
the  South  and  are  now  being  used 
commercially. 

Before  the  war  all  naphtha  and 
gasoline  safety  lamps  were  pur- 
chased in  Europe.  Since  the  war 
started  some  of  the  foreign  patents 
have  expired  and  several  American 
lamps  of  this  type  have  been  placed 
on  the  market.  With  the  help  of 
the  Bureau  of  Mines  there  have  also 
been  developed  several  types  of  per- 
missible electric  safety  lamps,  which 
are  now  in  the  market  in  competi- 
tion with  foreign  makes. 

The  war  has  had  a  very  stimu- 
lating effect  on  the  production  of 
crude  and  calcined  magnesite  in 
California.  In  times  past  these  de- 
posits have  been  used  very  sparing- 
ly, and  principally  in  connection  with 
the  paper  industry.  In  1913  the 
imports  amounted  to  approximately 
168,000  tons,  while  the  domestic  pro- 
duction did  not  reach  10,000  tons. 
The  imported  material  was  largely 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  refrac- 
tory furnace  lining  and  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  paper  from  wood  pulp. 
No  exact  data  as  to  the  present  out- 
put of  the  American  companies  are 
available,  but  it  is  thought  that  the 
domestic  production  in  1916  was 
about  equal  to  the  former  imports. 
Eastern  users,  however,  are  urging 
greater  production. 

There  has  been  a  striking  increase 
in  the  production  of  cutlery  and 
related  articles.  The  old  American 
preference  for  imported  articles  has 
kept  alive  in  this  country  a  thriving 
business  in  such  articles.  Barber 
shears,  razors.,  butcher  knives, 


cleavers,  boning  knives,  and  so  on, 
are  now  supplied  by  American  man- 
ufacturers in  sufficient  quantities  to 
meet  the  demand.  All  these  articles 
needed  was  a  fair  trial. 

As  a  result  of  restriction  placed 
upon  the  shipments  of  asbestos  from 
Canada,  which  is  the  world's  chief 
source  of  supply,  we  are  now  pay- 
ing attention  to  our  own  deposits. 
In  1915  there  was  a  great  increase 
in  the  production  of  high-grade  as- 
bestos in  Arizona.  The  lower-grade 
asbestos  produced  in  this  country 
comes  mainly  from  Georgia.  De- 
posits are  now  reported  from  the 
Caspar  Mountain  and  other  regions 
in  Wyoming.  The  Geological  Sur- 
vey is  of  the  opinion  that  the  pres- 
ent output  can  be  greatly  increased. 

The  list  could  be  greatly  extended, 
but  the  foregoing  should  be  sufficient 
to  prove  the  point  that  when  Ameri- 
cans are  forced  by  necessity  they 
can  manufacture  practically  any 
line  of  goods.  We  have  it  in  us  to 
make  ourselves  industrially  inde- 
pendent of  all  other  nations  in  case 
of  necessity,  and  we  are  rapidly 
making  progress  in  that  direction. 

From  the  evidence  in  the  case, 
therefore,  it  appears  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  make  preparations  that  will 
save  us  from  disaster  in  foreign 
trade  when  our  old  competitors  re- 
enter  the  field.  We  haven't  made 
all  the  necessary  preparations  at  this 
writing,  but  we  are  doing  well  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  vitality  in 
the  movement  now  where  at  first 
there  was  only  talk.  And  we  are 
proving  that  we  never  again  will 
have  to  depend  upon  others  for  im- 
portant products.  "Preparedness" 
has  a  real  and  vital  meaning  for 
Americans  to-day. 


Copyright  by  B.  G.  Mitchell 

THE  WOOLWOBTH  BUILDING 
The  Tallest  Commercial  Structure  Ever  Erected.    Home  of  the  "Scientific  American." 


CHAPTER 'XXL 


EDUCATION 

FROM  DATA  FURNISHED  BY  THE  U.  S.  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 


I.    SUMMARY   OF   STATISTICS 


THERE    are    nearly    22,500,000 
enrolled   in    educational    insti- 
tutions in   the   United   States. 
Of  these,  19,500,000  are  in  elemen- 
tary schools;  1,450,000  in  secondary 
schools,  both  public  and  private,  and 
216,000  in  colleges  and  universities. 
Close  to  a  hundred  thousand  are  in 
normal     schools     preparing     to     be 
teachers;  67,000  are  in  law,  medical 


and  other  professional  schools,  and 
the  remaining  million  or  more  are 
in  various  types  of  educational  in- 
stitutions. There  are  706,000  teach- 
ers, of  whom  580,000  are  in  public 
schools.  Annual  expenditures  for 
education  aggregate  $800,000,000. 

The  following  table  summarizes 
the  latest  school  and  college  enroll- 
ment figures.* 


SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  ENROLLMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Public 

Private 

Total 

Elementary      (kindergarten,     primary     and 
grammar)  
Secondary  (high  schools  and  academies)  
Secondary      (preparatory      departments     of 
higher  institutions) 

17,934,982 
1,218,804 

22  414 

1,626,310 
154,857 

63  324 

19,561,292 
1,373,661 

85  738 

Universities  and  colleges  

87,820 

128,673 

216,493 

Professional  schools  
Normal  schools 

12,289 
89  537 

54,777 
5  749 

67,066 
95  286 

Total  for  the  above 

19  365  846 

2  033  690 

21  399  536 

City  evening  schools 

610  966 

610  966 

Business  schools     ....        .            

168  063 

168  063 

Reform  schools 

54  798 

54  798 

Schools  for  the  deaf  .  .  . 

13  370 

489 

13,859 

Schools  for  the  blind 

4  971 

4  971 

Schools  for  the  feeble-minded  

15,253 

687 

15,940 

Government  Indian  schools 

32  718 

32  718 

Schools  m  Alaska  supported  by  the  Govern- 
ment   

3  666 

3  666 

Other  public  schools  in  Alaska  

3,100 

3,100 

Orphan  asylums  and  other  benevolent  institu- 
tions (estimated) 

20  000 

20  000 

Private  kindergartens  (individually  reported)" 
Miscellaneous  (art,  music,  etc.)  (estimated).  . 



74,725 
60,000 

74,725 
60,000 

Total  for  special  schools  

738,842 

323,964 

1,062,806 

Total  for  all  schools  in  the  United  States 

20,104,688 

2,357,654 

22,462,342 

'From    Annual    Report    of    the    TJ.    S.    Commissioner    of    Education,    1916. 


Copyright   by   Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


256 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


OO—i  .-i05« 

5>OCO  -H^H 


05  N 

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II.     ORGANIZATION    OF    EDUCATION    IN 
THE    UNITED    STATES 

Education  in  the  United  States 
has  developed  as  a  State  rather 
than  a  national  matter.  All  the 
States  provide  elementary  educa- 
tion, ranging  from  seven  to  nine 
years,  and  secondary  education  of 
one  or  more  years,  and  in  practically 
every  State  higher  educational  op- 
portunities are  available  without 
cost  for  tuition  to  both  sexes.  Re- 
cently provision  has  been  made  in 
some  States  for  adequate  vocational, 
commercial  and  professional  educa- 
tion at  public  expense,  but  only  a 
small  number  of  States  have  as  yet 
created  State  systems  of  vocational 
education.  Support  of  schools  is 
from  State  and  local  sources,  the 
proportion  ranging  from  Massachu- 
setts, where  96.8  per  cent  of  the 
funds  come  from  local  taxation,  to 
Alabama,  where  only  24  per  cent  of 
the  funds  for  school  purposes  come 
from  local  taxation  and  69.4  per 
cent  from  the  State.  The  Federal 
Government  early  in  its  history 
made  important  grants  of  land  for 
general  educational  purposes;  it 
gives  financial  aid  to  agricultural 
and  mechanical  colleges  and  experi- 
ment stations  in  all  States,  and  has 
recently  begun  to  support  extension 
education  for  agriculture  and  home 
making.  It  has  also  maintained, 
since  1867,  a  Federal  Bureau  of  Ed- 
ucation which  serves  as  a  clearing 
house  of  information  on  educatior 
for  the  benefit  of  all  the  States 
Control  of  public  schools,  orjginally 
centered  in  the  local  community,  has 
lately  become  transferred  in  large 
measure  to  the  county  and  to  the 
State,  as  State  aid  and  responsibil- 
ity for  education  have  broadened. 
Conditions  still  vary,  however,  from 
almost  complete  State  domination 
in  a  few  States  to  nearly  complete  lo- 
cal autonomy  in  others.  The  National 
Government  exerts  no  control  over 
education  in  the  States  other  than 
that  involved  in  the  administration 
of  certain  land  grant  funds  and  ap- 
propriations for  extension  educa- 
tion. The  function  of  the  Federal 


EDUCATION 


257 


Bureau    of    Education    is    advisory 
rather  than  administrative. 

III.    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION 

Education  is  compulsory,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  in  all  the 
States  except  one — Mississippi. 
Massachusetts  adopted  a  compul- 
sory education  law  in  1852.  Ver- 
mont followed  in  1867;  Michigan, 
New  Hampshire  and  Washington  in 
1871;  Connecticut  and  New  Mexico 
in  1872  ;  Nevada  in  1873  ;  California, 
Kansas,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Maine,  Ohio,  Wyoming  and  Wiscon- 
sin between  1874  and  1880.  The 
more  recent  adoptions  have  been  in 
the  Southern  States:  Alabama, 
Florida,  South  Carolina  and  Texas 
in  1915  and  Georgia  in  1916.  The 
laws  vary  widely  in  scope  and  ef- 
fectiveness. In  some  States  they  are 
operative  only  after  acceptance  by 
counties  and  local  communities ;  in 
others  they  are  effective  for  only 
part  of  the  territory  of  the  State, 
large  areas  being  exempted.  The 
upper  age  limit  for  compulsory  at- 
tendance ranges  from  age  12  in 
Georgia,  Kentucky,  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  to  age  16  in  sixteen  of 
the  States,  and  18,  under  certain 
conditions,  in  one  (Idaho).  The 
more  usual  compulsory  period  is  8 
to  14  years  of  age,  or  "until  com- 
pletion of  the  eighth  grade."  The 
minimum  attendance  in  any  one 
year  varies  from  twelve  weeks  in 
Nebraska  and  Virginia  to  the  "full 
school  year"  in  twenty-nine  States. 
Compulsory  education  laws  have 
usually  been  fortified  by  State  child 
labor  acts  and  more  recently  (1916) 
by  a  Federal  child  labor  law. 

IV.  ILLITERACY 

Illiteracy  in  the  United  States  Is 
7.7  per  cent  as  compared  with  1 
per  cent  in  Great  Britain,  4.3  per 
cent  in  France  and  0.05  per  cent  in 
Germany.  According  to  the  census 
of  1910  there  were  five  and  a  half 
million  illiterates  in  the  United 
States  over  10  years  of  age.  This 
is  over  a  million  more  than  the 
combined  total  population  of  Mon- 


tana, Idaho,  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah,  Ne- 
vada and  California  (4,447,507)  ;  or 
of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island 
(5,438,945)  ;  or  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Florida  (4,877,140).  A 
State  made  up  of  these  illiterates 
would  be  nearly  as  large  as  Illinois 
(5,638,591).  There  were  more  il- 
literates in  1910  than  comprised  the 
entire  population  of  the  United 
States  in  1800  (5,403,383),  or  the 
equivalent  of  the  entire  combined 
metropolitan  population  of  Phila- 
delphia, St.  Louis,  Boston,  Cleve- 
land, Baltimore,  Pittsburgh,  Detroit, 
and  Buffalo.  The  percentage  of  il- 
literacy in  the  United  States  was 
lowered  between  1890  and  1910  from 
13.3  per  cent  in  1890  to  10.7  per  cent 
in  1900,  and  7.7  per  cent  in  1910 ;  but 
the  number  of  illiterates  decreased 
less  than  15  per  cent  and  the  num- 
ber of  foreign  born  illiterates  in- 
creased 43  per  cent.  More  than 
two-thirds  of  all  illiterates  are 
country-dwellers ;  the  rural  illiteracy 
(10.1  per  cent)  is  nearly  twice  that 
in  the  cities  (5.1  per  cent).  Exist- 
ing illiteracy  is  therefore  ascribed 
to  foreign  immigration  and  lack  of 
school  facilities  in  country  districts. 
The  State  and  national  governments 
are  aiding  city  evening  schools  to 
eliminate  illiteracy  among  the  for- 
eign born,  and  several  States — Ken- 
tucky, Alabama,  North  Carolina — 
have  created  State  illiteracy  commis- 
sions to  deal  with  the  problem  in 
rural  communities. 

V.    TYPES    OF    SCHOOLS 

Elementary.  —  Elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  United  States  has  become 
almost  exclusively  a  public  function. 
Of  the  1,626,310  pupils  reported  in 
private  elementary  schools,  1,429,859 
are  in  parish  schools  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Private  kindergartens  and 
special  schools  account  for  a  large 
part  of  the  remaining  number. 

Secondary. — The  high  school  is 
the  most  typical  American  educa- 
tional institution.  There  are  11,674 
public  high  schools,  of  which  8,440 


258 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


have  four-year  courses.  Secondary 
education  has  become  more  and 
more  a  public  function;  89  per  cent 
of  the  secondary  students  are  in 
public  high  schools.  It  is  estimated 
by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation that  25  out  of  every  100 
children  who  enter  school  reach  the 
high  school,  and  that  10  out  of  every 
100  graduate  from  high  school.  The 
most  important  recent  change  in  sec- 
ondary education  is  the  gradual  in- 
troduction of  the  so-called  "six-and- 


and  468  under  private  control;  327 
are  controlled  by  religious  denomi- 
nations; 140  are  for  men  only;  83 
for  women  only ;  and  340  are  coedu- 
cational. There  are  152,307  men 
students  and  84,861  women  students.* 
The  number  of  men  students  has 
tripled  and  the  number  of  women 
students  has  more  than  quadrupled 
since  1890. 

The  following  table  shows  the  dis- 
tribution of  school  enrollment  in  the 
elementary  and  higher  grades: 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT  ACCORDING  TO  ESTIMATED 

PERCENTAGES 


Grades 

Estimated 
per  cent. 

Estimated 
enrollment 
in  grades 

First  grade 

23  50 

4,596,904 

Second  grade  
Third  grade 

14.79 
13  91 

2,893,115 
2,720,976 

Fourth  grade  
Fifth  grade 

13.28 
11.28 

2.597,739 
2,206,514 

Sixth  grade  

9.25 

1,809,419 

Seventh  grade  
Eighth  grade 

7.63 
6  36 

1,492,527 
1,244,098 

Total  elementary 

100  00 

19,561,292 

First  year  high  school 

40  14 

585,803 

Second  year  high  school  
Third  year  high  school 

26.75 

18  84 

390,389 
274,951 

Fourth  year  high  school  

14.27 

208,256 

Total  high  school 

100  00 

1,459,399 

Higher  institutions 

378  845 

Grand  total 

21,399,536 

*Tbese  are  later  figures  than  appear  in/  the 
of  this  chapter. 

general  summary 

at  the   beginning 

six"  plan  of  organization,  whereby 
six  years  are  assigned  to  elementary 
education  and  six  to  secondary,  the 
latter  period  being  divided  into 
"junior"  and  "senior"  high  schools 
•of  three  years  each.  A  hundred  and 
fifty  cities  had  taken  steps  toward 
adopting  this  form  of  organization 
in  1915. 

Higher  Education.— Of  the  563 
colleges  and  universities  listed  by 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, 95  are  public  .  institutions 


VI.    TEACHERS 

Of  the  706,152  teachers  employed 
in  the  United  States,  169,029  are 
men  and  537,123  women.  The  num- 
ber of  teachers  nearly  doubled  in  the 
thirty  years  between  1885  and  1915. 
Nearly  five-sixths  of  the  teachers  in 
public  elementary  schools  are  wo- 
men, and  of  the  57,909  public  high 
school  teachers,  32,862  are  women. 
The  colleges  and  universities  have 
5,293  women  instructors  and  19,447 
men,  The  following  table  summar- 


EDUCATION 


259 


izes  the  number  of  teachers  in  vari- 
ous types  of  schools. 

VII.     VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION 

Six  States — Massachusetts,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  In- 
diana and  Wisconsin — have  regular- 
ly established  systems  of  vocational 
or  industrial  education.  Two  others 


been  pointed  out  that  prior  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  European  war  more 
trade  workers  were  being  trained  at 
public  expense  in  the  city  of  Munich 
than  in  all  the  larger  cities  of  the 
United  States  combined. 

VIII.     COST     OF     EDUCATION 

The   estimated   cost    of   education 


TEACHERS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Teachers  in  — 

Men 

Women 

Total 

Public  elementary  schools  
Public  high  schools  
Private  elementary  schools  (estimated)  
Private  high  schools 

89,615 
25,047 
8,060 
5,820 

432,534 
32,862 
39,354 
8,070 

522,149 
57,909 
47,414 
13,890 

Universities  and  colleges: 
Preparatory  departments                        .    ... 

2,484 

1,493 

3,977 

Collegiate  departments  
Professional  schools: 
Theology 

16,963 
1  516 

3,800 

20,763 
1,516 

Law                                                          

1,471 

1,471 

6  955 

6,955 

1  532 

1,532 

744 

744 

Veterinary  medicine  
Normal  schools,  public: 
Normal  department  
Other  departments  

364 

1,636 
605 

2,904 
981 

364 

4,540 
1,586 

Normal  schools,  private: 
Normal  department  
Other  departments  
Commercial  and  business  schools  
Schools  for  defectives  and  delinquents  
Indian  and  Alaskan  schools  
Kindergartens  and  miscellaneous  (estimated)  . 

136 
132 
2,019 
1,175 
1,255 
1,500 

223 
131 
1,731 

2,728 
1,638 
8,674 

359 
263 
3,750 
3,903 
2,893 
10,174 

Total                                               

169,029 

537,123 

706,152 

— California  and  Connecticut- 
maintain  State-aided  vocational 
schools,  and  some  form  of  vocational 
or  industrial  education  is  provided 
by  eight  other  States,  while  in  the 
States  which  do  not  provide  State 
aid  for  vocational  education  separate 
municipalities  have  established  sev- 
eral types  of  vocational  education  at 
public  expense.  The  need  for  indus- 
trial training  for  the  youth  of  the 
nation  has  been  urged  by  organiza- 
tions of  business  men,  labor-union 
workers,  and  schoolmen  within  the 
past  few  years  as  a  measure  of 
national  conservation  and  prepared- 
ness. European  nations — especially 
Germany — have  been  ahead  of  the 
United  States  in  this  regard.  It  has 


in  the  United  States  for  1914,  the 
latest  year  for  which  statistics  are 
available,  was  $794,459,968.  The 
table  over  leaf  shows  the  distribu- 
tion of  this  expenditure  and  the  per 
capita  cost  for  different  types  of 
schools. 

IX.  GIFTS  AND  BEQUESTS  TO  EDUCATION 

In  the  forty-four  years,  1871  to 
1914,  private  philanthropy  added 
$584,418,082  to  the  available  funds 
of  colleges  and  other  educational  in- 
stitutions in  the  United  States.  The 
bulk  of  these  funds  goes  to  colleges 
and  universities.  Of  the  $31,357,398 
given  in  1914,  $26,670,017  was  for 
universities  and  colleges,  $1,558,281 
for  schools  of  theology,  $203,067  for 


260 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT  AND  ESTIMATED  COST 


Classification 

Enrollment, 
1914 

Estimated 
per  capita 
cost 

Estimated 
total  cost 

Public  elementary  schools  

17,934,982 

$27  11 

$486  165  968 

Public  high  schools  '  

1  218  804 

56  54 

68  911  178 

Private  elementary  schools 

1  626  310 

32  00 

52*04  1*920 

Private  high  schools  
Other  public  and  private  secondary  schools  .  . 
Universities,  colleges  and  professional  schools 
Normal  schools  
Commercial  and  business  schools  
Reform  schools  
Schools  for  the  deaf 

154,857 
85,738 
283,559 
95,286 
168,063 
54,798 
13  859 

94.10 
157.47 
335  .  57 
158.34 
50.00 
157  .  92 
300  80 

14,572,044 
13,501,163 
95,153,894 
15,087,585 
8,403,150 
8,653,700 
4  168  787 

Schools  for  the  blind  

4,971 

498  34 

2  477  248 

Schools  for  the  feeble-minded 

15  940 

555  42 

8  753  495 

Government  Indian  schools  

32,718 

116  69 

3  817  863 

Schools  in  Alaska  supported  by  the  Federal 
G  o  vernment 

3  666 

56   13 

205  773 

Other  public  schools  in  Alaska  
Orphan  asylums,  etc 

3,100 
20  000 

50.00 
200  00 

155,000 
4  000  000 

Private  kindergartens  
Miscellaneous  —  music,  art,  etc  . 

74,725 
60  000 

32.00 
100  00 

2,391,200 
6  000  000 

Total.                    

21,851,376 

$36  36 

$794  459  968 

law  schools,  $1,495,773  for  medical 
schools,  $607,431  for  public  normal 
schools,  $116,283  for  private  normal 
schools,  and  $706,546  for  private  sec- 
ondary schools.  The  following  table 
shows  the  annual  amount  of  gifts 
and  bequests  to  education  since  1S94  : 

GIFTS     AND     BEQUESTS     TO     EDUCATION, 

1894-1914 

1894 $10.855,305 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1900 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914. . 


volumes  is  an  increase  of  20,000,000 
since  1908. 


X.   LIBRARIES 

There  were  over  18,000  regularly 
established  libraries  in  the  United 
States  in  1913,  containing  more  than 
75,000,000  volumes.  The  number  of 


READING    BOOM,     CONGRESSIONAL 
LEBHARY 


EDUCATION 


261 


Of  the  2,849  libraries  containing 
5,000  volumes  or  over,  1,844  are 
classified  as  "public  and  society  li- 
braries," and  1,005  are  school  and 
college  libraries.  Public  and  society 
libraries  have  an  aggregate  of  over 
fifty  million  volumes,  with  seven 
million  borrowers'  cards  in  force; 
1,446  of  these  libraries  were  entire- 
ly free  to  the  public. 

Libraries  reporting  from  1,000  to 
5,000  volumes  numbered  5,453,  of 
which  2,188  were  public  and  society 
libraries,  and  3,265  school  libraries. 
These  libraries  contained  11,689,942 
volumes.  Another  group  of  libraries, 
comprising  those  that  reported  from 
300  to  1,000  volumes,  increased  the 
total  by  2,961,007  volumes. 


Of  the  1,844  public  and  society 
libraries  with  over  5,000  volumes 
reported  for  the  entire  United 
States,  more  than  half  were  in  the 
North  Atlantic  States,  and  they 
contained  24,627,921  volumes  out 
of  the  total  of  fifty  millions;  and 
of  the  three  million  volumes  added 
to  library  collections  for  the  year 
1913,  almost  one-half  were  for  the 
same  section.  New  York  State 
had  7,842,621  volumes  in  her  213 
libraries ;  Massachusetts,  7.380,024 
in  288  libraries;  Pennsylvania,  3,- 
728,070;  and  Illinois,  3,168,765 
volumes.  Four-fifths  of  the  bor- 
rowers' cards  in  use  were  in  the 
North  Atlantic  and  North  Central 
States. 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 


ENTRANCE  HALL,  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE  NEW  NAVY 


THE  NAVAL  PROGRAMME  OF  1916. 


ON   August  29,    1916,  President 
Wilson   signed   the   Naval    Ap- 
propriation Bill,  authorizing  a 
three-year   building   programme,    of 


greater  size  and  importance  than 
this  nation  has  ever  previously  con- 
templated. To  get  a  perspective  on 
this  bill  and  what  it  means,  consider 


INCREASE  OF  NAVY  SINCE   1903 


YEAR 


1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910... 


1911.... 


1913 


1914 

1915... 


Appropriation 


$102,091,670.27 

98,958,507.50 
122,663,885.47 

136,935,199.05 
131,350,854.38 
126,478,338.24 


123,225,007.76 


140,800,643.52 


144,868,716.61 
149,661,864.88 


Amount  for 
increase  navy 


$33,475,829.00 

23,713,915.00 
30,307,962.00 

38,819,595.00 
33,770,346.00 
26,005,547.67 


20,569,373.48 

35,325,695 , 00 

41,091,734.00 
46,853,801.00 


Building  programme 


1  first-class  battleship 

3  torpedo-boat  destroyers 
8  submarines 

1  first-class  battleship 

2  torpedo-boat  destroyers 
2  first-class  battleships 

5  colliers 

10  torpedo-boat  destroyers 

8  submarines 

2  first-class  battleships 

1  collier 

8  destroyers  (3  sub-surface) 

4  submarines 

2  first-class  battleships 
2  colliers 

6  torpedo-boat  destroyers 
4  submarines 

2  first-class  battleships 

2  colliers 

1  river  gunboat 

1  gunboat 

2  tugs 

4  submarines 

1  submarine  tender 

8  torpedo-boat  destroyers 
,   1  battleship,  first  line 
I  2  fuel  ships 

6  destroyers 

1  destroyer  tender 

8  submarines 

1  submarine  tender 

1  battleship 

1  transport 

1  supply  ship 
6  destroyers 
4  submarines 

3  battleships 
6  destroyers 

8  (or  more)  submarines 

2  battleships 
6  destroyers 

2  seagoing  submarines 
,   16  coast-defense  submarines 
!   1  oil  fuel  ship 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    IDC, 


264 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


the  figures  on  the  preceding  page 
showing  the  increase  during  the  past 
years. 

With  these  figures  in  mind  con- 
sider the  present  bill,  which  in  addi- 
tion to  provision  for  enlarged  per- 
sonnel and  material  authorizes  ten 
battleships,  six  battle  cruisers,  ten 
scout  cruisers,  fifty  destroyers,  nine 
fleet  submarines,  fifty-eight  coast 
submarines,  three  fuel  ships,  one  re- 
pair ship,  one  transport,  one  hos- 
pital ship,  two  destroyer  tenders, 
one  submarine  tender,  two  ammuni- 
tion ships  and  two  gunboats.  As 
soon  as  is  practicable,  which  means 
in  the  very  ne*r  future,  four  battle- 
ships, four  scout  cruisers,  four  bat- 
tle cruisers,  twenty  destroyers,  thirty 
coast  submarines,  one  fuel  ship,  one 
hospital  ship,  one  ammunition  ship 
and  one  gunboat  are  to  be  begun — 
indeed,  the  bill  makes  it  mandatory 
to  contract  for  or  begin  construc- 
tion on  these  within  six  months. 

For  months  the  technical  bureaus 
of  the  Navy  Department  have  been 
working  on  the  designs  of  the  ves- 
sels. In  these  designs  they  have  in- 
corporated military  characteristics 
which  are  the  result  of  the  lessons 
learned  from  naval  operations  in  the 
war  and  their  application  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Navy.  The  de- 
partment advertised  for  bids  for  tho 
construction  of  four  battleships,  four 
scout  cruisers,  twenty  destroyers 
and  thirty  submarines  of  two  dis- 
tinct types  the  day  the  bill  was 
affirmed  and  at  the  same  time  di- 
rected the  navy  yards  at  Philadel- 
phia, Boston  and  Charleston  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  construction  of  the 
hospital  ship,  the  fuel  ship  and  the 
gunboat,  respectively. 

The  battleships,  known  for  the 
present  as  Nos.  45  to  48,  inclusive, 
will  be  slightly  larger  than  their 
predecessors,  the  "Tennessee"  and 
"California."  Their  chief  charac- 
teristics are:  Displacement,  32,600 
tons ;  speed,  21  knots ;  battery,  eight 
16-inch  guns,  eighteen  5-inch  guns, 
four  3-inch  anti-aircraft  guns;  com- 
plement, 1,022.  They  will  have  the 
large  cruising  radius  which  charac- 


terizes all  recent  United  States  bat- 
tleships. Their  armor  and  under- 
water protection  will  be  unusually 
complete. 

The  scout  cruisers,  known  as  Nos. 
4  to  7,  inclusive,  will  be  the  largest 
and  fastest  vessels  of  this  class  ever 
laid  down  for  any  navy.  The  chief 
characteristics  are :  Displacement, 
7,100  tons ;  speed,  35  knots ;  length, 
550  feet;  beam,  55  feet;  armament, 
eight  6-inch  guns,  four  torpedo  tubes 
and  two  3-inch  anti-aircraft  guns; 
complement,  330.  Their  high-pow- 
ered machinery  installations  will  be 
protected  by  light  but  efficient  ver- 
tical and  horizontal  armor.  A  new 
feature  never  before  incorporated  in 
any  ship  of  a  powerful  military  type 
will  be  the  equipment  for  carrying, 
launching  and  operating  four  of  the 
largest  size  hydro-aeroplanes. 

The  torpedo  boat  destroyers, 
known  as  destroyers  Nos.'  75  to  94, 
inclusive,  will  carry  a  heavy  battery 
and  will  have  an  unusually  large 
cruising  radius.  They  represent  a 
small  increase  in  displacement  over 
the  last  class  laid  down,  but  will 
deliver  an  increased  speed  of  about 
five  knots.  Their  chief  characteris- 
tics will  be:  Displacement,  1,185 
tons;  speed,  35  knots;  battery,  four 
4-inch  guns,  four  triple  torpedo 
tubes,  two  anti-aircraft  guns;  com- 
plement, 95.  They  will  attain  their 
rated  speed  on  full  designed  dis- 
placement, and  not  on  a  very  much 
lesser  displacement,  which  can  only 
be  attained  by  the  stripping  of  many 
essentials,  as  in  a  number  of  foreign 
boats  of  this  class,  for  which  very 
high  speeds  are  claimed. 

Of  the  coast  defense  submarines, 
twenty-seven  will  be  of  the  usual 
type  known  as  Nos.  78  to  104,  in- 
clusive. The  remaining  three,  Nos. 
105,  106  and  107,  will  be  a  new  type 
representing  a  marked  increase  in 
size  over  the  usual  coast-defense 
submarine  and  a  decrease  in  size 
from  the  very  large  fleet  submarine. 
Each  of  these  three  vessels  will  rep- 
resent different  ideas  in  their  de- 
tailed designs,  and  the  Navy  hopes, 
in  their  development,  to  arrive  at  a 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


size  of  vessel  which  will  be  suffi- 
ciently large  to  perform  nearly  all 
the  duties  required  of  a  submarine, 
but  at  the  same  time  will  be  suffi- 
ciently small  to  enable  it  to  be  built 
quickly  in  large  numbers. 

The  hospital  ship  will  be  the  first 
built  especially  for  this  purpose  for 
the  Navy,  those  now  in  use  being 
converted  merchant  vessels.  The 
design  has  been  worked  out  by  the 
technical  bureaus  of  the  department 
in  constant  consultation  with  the 
Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Surgery, 
with  the  result  that  it  will  embody 
every  feature  of  the  most  up-to-date 
hospital  on  shore.  It  will  have  ac- 
commodations for  500  patients.  Its 
chief  characteristics  and  dimensions 
are:  Displacement,  9,800  tons; 
length,  460  feet;  breadth,  60  feet 
10%  inches ;  draft,  19  feet  6  inches ; 
speed,  16  knots.  As  this  vessel  will 
be,  under  the  terms  of  the  Geneva 
Convention,  immune  from  capture  or 
attack  in  time  of  war,  it  will  not,  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  that 
convention,  carry  an  armament  of 
any  kind  for  offense  or  defense,  and 
its  design  includes  no  military  fea- 
tures of  any  sort. 

The  fuel  ship,  known  as  fuel  ship 
No.  16,  will  be  a  large  oil  tanker,  of 
ordinary  commercial  type,  except 
that  its  design  will  meet  the  re- 
quirements for  a  vessel  which  must 
accompany  the  battle  fleet  and  be 
prepared  to  supply  fuel  oil  to  ves- 
sels of  all  sizes  under  adverse  con- 
ditions of  wind  and  sea.  Its  chief 
dimensions  and  characteristics  are: 
Displacement,  14,500  tons ;  length, 
455  feet;  beam,  56  feet;  draft,  26 
feet  4  inches  (about)  ;  total  dead 
weight  carrying  capacity,  9,600  tons ; 
speed,  14  knots. 

The  gunboat,  known  as  gunboat 
No.  21,  will  be  a  vessel  designed  espe- 
cially for  long-continued  service  in 
tropical  waters.  Its  chief  charac- 
teristics will  be  :  Displacement,  1,575 
tons ;  length,  241  feet  2  inches ; 
breadth,  41  feet  2%  inches;  draft, 
11  feet  4  inches;  armament,  three 
4-inch  guns,  two  1-pounder  guns, 
four  30-caliber  machine  guns,  two 


3-inch  field  guns,  two  3-pounder 
guns;  speed,  12  knots;  complement, 
149. 

The  only  designs  of  the  current 
programme  not  yet  completed  are 
those  for  the  battle  cruiser  and  the 
ammunition  ship.  Plans  and  speci- 
fications for  the  battle  cruisers  will 
be  completed  and  issued  to  bidders 
about  October  1,  1916,  and  for  the 
ammunition  ship  November  1,  1916. 
This  will  permit  contracts  to  be 
placed  in  advance  of  the  termina- 
tion of  the  six  months  period  named 
in  the  Appropriation  Bill. 

VESSELS   IN    THE    NAVY 

According  to  the  official  reports 
there  were  upon  the  Navy  list  399 
vessels  June  30,  1915,  listed  as  fol- 
lows: Battleships,  41;  submarines, 
57 ;  fuel  ships,  24 ;  tugs,  48 ;  yachts, 
16 ;  cruisers,  24 ;  gunboats,  31 ;  de- 
stroyers, 69;  torpedo  boats,  20; 
transports,  6;  tenders,  9;  monitors, 
9;  special  types,  8;  supply  ships,  5; 
hospital  ships,  2;  armored  cruisers, 
10,  and  ships  of  all  kinds  in  an  un- 
serviceable condition,  20.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  list  of  ships  there  are 
authorized  by  the  Naval  Act  of 


Copyright  American  Press  Association 
SUBMARINE   "D-l" 


268 


OUK    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


March  3,  1915,  battleships  Nos.  43 
and  44,  destroyers  Nos.  69  to  84, 
inclusive,  and  submarines  Nos.  60  to 
77,  inclusive.  Appropriations  for 
the  beginning  of  the  construction  of 
these  vessels  were  made  available 
July  1,  1915. 

It  is  expected  that  on  July  1,  1917, 
there  will  be  in  active  commission 
the  following  vessels : 

Battleships 22 

Armored  cruisers 5 

Cruisers   12 

Destroyers   52 

Gunboats 26 

Submarines    56 

Destroyer  tenders 4 

Submarine  tenders 6 

Transports 2 

Repair  ships 2 

Fleet  tugs G 

Hospital  ship 1 

Fleet     colliers      (manned     by     naval 

crews)     4 

Mining   ships 2 

Supply  ships 3 

Ammunition  ship 1 

And  in  reserve  with  40  per  cent 
complements : 

Battleships  over  15  years  old 17 

Armored  cruisers 5 

Cruisers   11 

Destroyers   1C 

Old  torpedo  boats 19 

Destroyer  tender    ("Dixie,"   194)  ....  1 

Submarine  tender   ("Iris,"  86) 1 

Supply  ship   (100) 1 

Transport  ( 100) 1 

NAVY    OF   THE    FUTURE 

In  its  1915  departmental  report 
the  Navy  Department  lists  those 
ships  of  the  present  fleet,  afloat  and 
building,  which  will  be  serviceable 
in  1922.  To  this  list  must  now  be 
added  the  authorized  ships  in  the 
most  recent  Navy  bill,  in  order  to 
gain  an  idea  of  what  our  present 
and  projected  Navy  will  amount  to 
when  the  present  stupendous  pro- 
gramme is  completed.  Of  course, 
the  present  plans  are  to  complete 
the  programme  prior  to  1922,  and 
unquestionably  further  additions 
will  be  made  to  the  Navy  in  future 
Congresses,  but  the  following  list, 
which  is  compiled  from  the  Navy 
Department  figures  plus  those  of  the 
new  bill,  should  indicate  the  ap- 
proximate strength  of  the  Navy  in 


usable,  lightable  ships  at  a  date  of 
approximately  1920  to  1922,  as  far  as 
present  knowledge  can  project  it: 

SHIPS    OF    THE    FLEET    SERVICEABLE    IN 

1920-1922 

Dreadnoughts,   first  line. 27 

Pre-dreadnoughts,   second  line 13 

Superannuated    pre-di  ead  noughts, 

third  line 9 

Battle  cruisers .  . o 

Scouts 31 

Destroyers   108 

Fleet  submarines .  12 

Coast  submarines 120 

Fuel  ships 16 

Repair  ships. 3 

Supply  ships 4 

Transports 5 

Hospital  ships 2 

Mine  ships 3 

Destroyer  tenders 4 

Fleet  submarine  tenders 2 

Ammunition   ships 2 

Harbor  defense  monitors 6 

Harbor  defense   battleships 3 

Gunboats   26 

NAVY    YARDS,     STATIONS,    BOSSESSIONS 

To  the  average  man  the  Navy  con- 
sists of  the  vessels  which  float  in 
the  water  and  such  property  as  may 
be  upon  them.  To  the  naval  man, 
however,  the  property  ashore  neces- 
sary to  maintain  the  ships  at  sea  is 
every  whit  as  important  as  the  ves- 
sels themselves,  and,  as  will  be  seen 
in  a  moment,  is  .no  inconspicuous 
part  of  the  expenditures  necessary 
to  make  or  maintain  the  Navy. 

The  United  States  possesses  eleven 
navy  yards  in  the  United  States, 
located  at  Portsmouth,  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Washington, 
Norfolk,  Mare  -Island,  Puget  Sound, 
Charleston,  Pensacola  and  New  Or- 
leans. Across  the  water  it  has  navy 
yards  in  Hawaii,  Cavite  and  Oloii- 
gapo.  It  possesses  naval  stations  at 
Port  Royal  and  Key  West,  and 
abroad  at  Guantanamo,  San  Juan, 
Guam  and  Tutuila.  It  possesses 
training  stations  at  Newport,  San 
Francisco  and  the  Great  Lakes; 
coaling  stations  at  Frenchman's 
Bay  and  Melville,  and  in  addition 
has  property  at  Sitka,  Alaska ;  New 
London,  Conn. ;  Yokohama,  Japan  ; 
the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis, 
the  naval  proving  ground  at  Indian 
Head,  a  naval  hospital  at  Las 


THE    NEW    NAVY 


269 


Animas,  a  naval  base  at  Culebra  and 
a  torpedo  station  at  Newport,  R.  1. 
The  investment  in  these  naval  estab- 
lishments totals  $196,059,926  since 
the  beginning  of  the  modern  idea  of 
the  Navy  in  1800,  when  the  Ports- 
mouth, Boston,  Washington  and 
Norfolk  navy  yards  were  first  estab- 
lished. 

COST  OF  NAVY 

The  total  cost  of  all  the  ships 
upon  the  Navy  list  to  the  date  men- 
tioned, and  excluding  the  new  work 
authorized  in  the  Naval  Act  of 
March  3,  1915,  or  the  ships  author- 
ized in  the  tremendous  1916  bill,  is 
$459,686,551.32. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
that  adding  together  the  cost  of  bat- 
tleships and  the  cost  of  naval  estab- 
lishments gives  any  idea  of  the  cost 
of  the  entire  Navy  since  it  was  first 
begun.  The  total  expenditures  for 
the  Navy  from  1794  to  1915,  inclu- 
sive, totals  the  unthinkable  sum  of 


$3,214,339,051.10.  This,  of  course, 
includes  ships,  establishments,  pay, 
materials  and  all  expenses  in  con- 
nection with  the  Navy  Department. 

HOW  NAVY  APPROPRIATIONS  ARE  SPENT 

The  Bureau  of  Supplies  and  Ac- 
counts of  the  United  States  Navy 
requires  a  closely  printed  statistical 
report  of  294  pages  to  summarize 
the  financial  operations  of  the  Navy. 
Nothing,  therefore,  but  the  most 
comprehensive  and  inclusive  statis- 
tics can  be  given  in  the  short  space 
here  available.  The  table  on  the 
next  page  will  be  found  interesting 
as  showing  the  principal  items  of 
expenditures  in  connection  with  the 
Navy. 

New  expenditures  authorized  for 
the  Navy  include  $11,000,000  for  an 
armor  plant  and  $1,500,000  for  an 
experimental  and  testing  laboratory. 

ENLISTED  PERSONNEL 

Having  a  certain  number  of  fight- 
ing ships  and  the  required  naval 


BLTJEJACKETS,   NAVAL  TRAINING  STATION,   NEWPORT,  E.  X. 


270  OUR   COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 

PRINCIPAL  ITEMS 

Amount  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  flscal  year  1915  .........  $145,61  6,241.  9C 

Total  expenditures  during  1915  .............  . 


Expenditures  for  maintaining  ships  in  commission  : 

Operation    .................................................  $46,890,893.90 

Repairs  to  ships  ............................................  4,931,279.89 

Changes     ..................................................  3,071,837.55 

Repairs  to  equipage  ...............................  ..........  430,757.34 

Total    ...................................................  $55,324,76&tB 

Expenditures  for  construction  of  vessels  : 

Battleships    ................................................  $20,029,890.37 

Gunboats  and  fuel  ships  .....  ............................  1  913  950.53 

Destroyers  .................................................  5,475,285.52 

Submarines  ................................................  3,636,416.44 

Tenders  and  tugs  ----  935,121.34 

Total   (at  navy  yards,  $4,540,152.65;  under  contract,  $27,450,- 

511.57)     ..................................  .............  $31,990,664.22 


Expenditures  for  pay  and  allowances  of  officers  and  men : 

Navy    $41,185,445.10 

Marine  Corps 3,920,563.99 


Total    $45,106,009.09 

Cost  of  subsisting  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Navy  and  Marines  afloat.  $5,897,181.54 

Average  cost  of  subsisting  one  man  for  one  day .36 

Cost  of  maintenance  of  navy  yards 16,275,490.63 


Cost  of  all  work  done  at  industrial  yards : 

Labor   $17,*43,767.56 

Material 14>5*,449.OO 

Indirect    expense. ..  4,277,083.91 

Total    $37,079,300.47 

f  materials  received  into  store  (inclndi 
>f  materials  Issued  from  store  (includi 

y  investment  of  naval  establishment: 


Value  of  materials  received  Into  store  (Including  ordnance  material) .  $112,118,294.44 
Value  of  materials  Issued  from  store  (including  ordnance  material. .    105,482,564.30 


Propert 
Ships 


$459,686,551.32 

Stations   206,635,104.59 

Stores 192,070,228.67 


Total    - $858,391,884.58 


Expenditures  for  naval  militia..  5      -  __       : 

Present  value  of  clothing  and  small-stores  fund : 

Stock   $3,587,075.04 

Money   ...  :  "::    47  56 

Total    $5,104,422.54 

stations,   bases  and   navy  yards  to  propriations  and  provision  for  this 

keep    them    in    condition,    a    navy  increase. 

would  nevertheless  be  helpless  were  The    total   enlisted    force1  in    the 

it  not  for  its  personnel,  regarded  by  United   States  Navy  was,  on  Jane 

Navy  men  as  equally  important  with  30,  1915,  52,561  men,  of  which  47.505 

material  and  equipment,  and  gener-  were  native  born  and  5,056  were  for- 

ally  all  too  much  disregarded  by  the  eign  born.     Of  these,   48,908  were 

appropriating   power,   unfortunately  white,  the  balance  being  negro,  Chi- 

a  non-technical  body  of  men.  Never-  nese,    Japanese,    Filipino,    Samoan. 

theless,  the  last  Congress,  in  its  huge  Hawaiian,     American     Indian    and 

building  programmeTtoote  cognizance  Porto  Rican.     Fifteen  States  of  the 

of  the  fact  that  more  men  and  offi-  United  States  furnish  65  per  cent  of 

cers  were  necessary  and  made  ap-  ..the  enlisted,  force.     New  York  fur- 


272 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Dishes  the  largest  number  of  native 
born  American  seamen  in  the  Amer- 
ican Navy,  6,719,  and  Alaska  the 
smallest  number  with  6. 

Contrary  to  the  general  opinion 
the  United  States  Navy  does  not 
have  difficulty  in  obtaining  men  for 
enlistment.  Its  trouble  comes  in  the 
high  standard  which  makes  the  ma- 
jority of  applications  result  in  re- 
jections. For  instance,  during  the 
year  1915  there  were  102,561  appli- 
cations for  enlistment.  Of  these 
only  17,704  were  enlisted  and  6,291 
of  this  number  were  re-enlistments. 
Over  6.1,000  of  the  rejections  were 
on  account  of  disability  and  17,000 
for  other  causes. 

In  order  to  supply  men  qualified 
for  certain  ratings  in  the  Navy,  the 
following  schools  are  maintained : 

Electric  schools  at  New  York  and 
Mare  Island. 

Machinists'  school  at  Charleston, 
S.  C. 

Torpedo  school  at  Newport,  R.  I. 


Coppersmith  school  at  Philadel- 
phia. 

Fuel  oil  school  at  Philadelphia. 

Artificer  school  at  Norfolk. 

Yeoman  schools  at  Newport  and 
San  Francisco. 

Commissary  schools  at  Newport 
and  San  Francisco. 

Hospital  attendant  schools  at 
Newport  and  San  Francisco. 

Musician  schools  at  Norfolk  and 
San  Francisco. 

Mess  attendant  school  at  Norfolk. 

During  the  last  fiscal  year  2,278 
men  were  pursuing  courses  at  these 
various  schools.  Of  these,  1,302 
completed  their  course  and  were  de- 
tailed to  active  duty. 

A  new  class  of  enlisted  men  at 
the  Pensacola  Aviation  School  is 
formed  every  three  months.  Some 
of  these  men  are  taught  and  exer- 
cised in  the  principles  of  flight,  and 
all  are  trained  in  the  mechanics  of 
aviation. 

On   January   1   a   school   for   the 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    ENLISTED    MEN    OCTOBER    1,    1915 

Vessels  afloat    (including  305  insular  force) 41,593 

Four  training  stations,   including  those  under  instruction,   instructors 

and    necessary    details 4,494 

Fifteen   trade   schools,   including   those   under   instruction,   instructors 

and    necessary    details 1,376 

Total    —    —    5>870 

Sixteen  hospitals: 

Hospital    attendants 398 

Patients 1.179 

Total —         '    1»57'' 

Recruiting  stations  :  • 

Thirty-five  main   stations  ;   eighty-three  substations 40 1 

Radio    stations *  JV 

Aeronautic    station *%* 

Vessels  under  construction ^0<i 

Shore  duty  at  navy  yard,  naval  stations  and  special  duty: 

Special  duty ; 1ZU 

Seamen    branch,    yeomen,    artificers,    hospital    corps,    messmen    and 

bandsmen    |J" 

Insular    force - 1OiJ       Q1 Q 

Total — ; 

Not  available  :  1 Q 

Insane   asylums *  t*S 

Prisoners *»*J8 

Traveling,   leave,   unavailable duu    1  d9o 

Total    • ~  *•>*** 

Grand    total 52>636 

Insular  force   (included  in  above  table)  :  17C! 

Cavite IT? 

Olongapo 38 

Guam    «5 

Tutuila    _ 

Total    .  458 


274 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


care  and  handling  of  gasoline  en- 
gines was  added  to  the  School  for 
Machinists'  Mates  at  Charleston. 
It  embraces  a  three  months'  course, 
in  which  the  men  learn  to  handle 
motor  boats  and  vessels  w^hich  use 
this  type  of  small  engine. 

The  radio  courses  at  the  Electric 
Schools  at  New  York  and  Mare 
Island  have  been  extended  to  in- 
clude, besides  the  Continental  Morse 
Code,  the  American  Morse  Code,  so 
that  all  the  men  who  qualify  at 
these  schools  may  be  competent  to 
talk  to  any  commercial  shore  sta- 
tions as  well  as  the  naval  stations. 

DESERTIONS 

One  of  the  troubles  of  all  navies 
is  found  in  the  practice  of  deser- 
tion. Many  men  cannot  stand  dis- 
cipline, others  become  dissatisfied 
for  one  reason  or  another,  and,  fail- 
ing to  understand  the  seriousness  of 
the  offense  or  being  willing  to  take 
the  chance  of  iDunishment  if  detect- 


ed, absent  themselves  from  the  Navy 
without  permission  and  thus  become 
deserters.  Two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men  thus  deserted 
during  1915,  a  decrease  of  several 
hundred  under  1914  and  a  still 
larger  decrease  from  1913  and  1912, 
the  figures  for  which  are  respect- 
ively 3,237  and  3,055.  Of  the  1915 
deserters,  480  voluntarily  returned 
to  service,  and  413  absentees  were 
apprehended  and  delivered. 

In  1907  a  finger  print  identifica- 
tion system  was  installed  in  the 
identification  office  which  now  con- 
tains the  finger  prints  of  133,214 
men,  including,  of  course,  all  those 
who  have  enlisted  in  the  Navy  since 
the  establishment  of  this  system. 
The  result  of  the  finger  print  sys- 
tem is  to  prevent  re-enlistment 
under  assumed  names  of  men  who 
have  deserted  from  the  Army  and 
Navy  or  Marine  Corps  or  who  have 
been  discharged  for  various  reasons 
which  would  prevent  them  from  re- 


LAYING  THE  KEEL  OF  A  BATTLESHIP  IS  AN  IMPRESSIVE   CEREMONY 


276 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


entering  the  service  under  their  own 
names. 

OFFICERS 

The  officers  of  the  Navy  are  of 
various  classes,  as  follows :  Line, 
Medical,  Dental,  Pay,  Chaplains, 
Professors  of  Mathematics,  Naval 
Constructors  and  assistants,  Civil 
Engineers  and  assistants,  Chief 
Warrant  Officers  and  Warrant  Offi- 
cers. On  June  30,  1915,  there  were, 
of  all  kinds,  3,803  officers  in  the 
service. 

Their  classification  is  shown  in 
the  appended  table: 

June  30, 

1915 

Line    2,029 

Medical 351 

Dental 31 

Pay 221 

Chaplains   27 

Professors  of  mathematics 17 

Naval   constructors   and  assist- 
ant naval  constructors 77 

Civil    engineers    and    assistant 

civil  engineers 40 

Chief  warrant  officers 468 

Warrant  officers 542 

Total 3,803 

Sixty-nine  per  cent  of  the  Line 
Officers,  55  per  cent  of  the  Warrant 
Officers,  41  per  cent  of  the  Medical 
Corps,  45  per  cent  of  the  Pay  Corps, 
30  per  cent  of  the  Dental  Corps,  1 
per  cent  of  the  Naval  Constructors 
and  53  per  cent  of  the  Chaplains 
were  doing  sea  duty  during  1915. 
It  is  therefore  obvious — what  is  sel- 
dom understood  by  the  layman — 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  avail- 
able officers  of  the  Navy  must  be 
engaged  in  shore  duty — ranging  all 
the  way  from  Annapolis  work  to 
being  in  charge  of  a  radio  station, 
from  assignment  to  a  navy  yard  to 
that  of  the  Naval  Observatory — 
without  which  the  Navy  as  a  fight- 
ing organization  would  be  like  a 
movable  body  without  a  directing 
head. 

According  to  the  provisions  of  the 
new  Navy  Bill,  commissioned  offi- 
cers (of  the  line)  instead  of  being 
an  arbitrary  number  will  be  based 
on  a  percentage  of  the  number  of  en- 
listed men.  The  new  law  provides 
that  there  shall  be  line  officers  to 


the  number  of  4  per  cent  of  the  en- 
listed personnel.  At  the  present 
time  there  are,  in  round  numbers, 
54,000  enlisted  men.  This  number, 
however,  is  to  be  largely  increased 
in  the  near  future  as  fast  as  enlist- 
ments can  be  made.  Sixty-eight 
thousand  men  are  authorized,  and 
4  per  cent  of  this  number,  or  2,720, 
is  the  number  of  line  officers  which 
will  command  the  new  Navy. 

Inasmuch  as  the  number  of  offi- 
cers in  each  grade  has  also  been 
placed  upon  a  percentage  basis,  a 
great  deal  of  changing  and  promo- 
tion is  going  on.  At  the  present 
writing,  500  junior  officers  are  tak- 
ing examinations  for  promotions, 
and  practically  all  who  pass  will  be 
promoted.  Congress,  having  in- 
creased the  number  of  appointments 
to  Annapolis,  has  provided  for  an 
increase  of  trained  officers  in  the 
future.  In  a  short  time  Annapolis, 
instead  of  training  from  900  to  1,200 
young  men  in  the  magnificent  plant 
where  the  Navy  makes  officers,  will 
be  housing  and  teaching  1,500  or 
more  at  a  time. 

NAVAL    CONSULTING    BOARD 

One  of  the  most  spectacular  ac- 
complishments of  the  present  ad- 
ministration as  far  as  the  Navy  is 
concerned  is  the  organization  of  the 
Naval  Consulting  Board  of  Civilian 
Experts  to  advise  with  the  Navy 
Department. 

Some  of  the  greatest  improvements 
utilized  by  the  Navy  have  come  from 
civilian  inventors  and  civilian  engi- 
neers. It  was  a  civilian  who  in- 
vented the  "Monitor,"  built  the  first 
submarine,  mastered  the  science  of 
flight,  perfected  wireless  communi- 
cation, invented  the  gyroscope  com- 
pass, electric  steering  gear,  electric 
propulsion  and  silk  floss  life  pre- 
servers. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Mr. 
Josephus  Daniels,  invited  Thomas 
A.  Edison  to  help  form  this  board. 
Mr.  Edison's  acceptance  was  hailed 
by  the  country  as  proof  of  a  new 
era  joining  the  powers  of  invention 
and  the  training  of  naval  experts  to 
apply  new  discoveries  to  the  in- 


THE    NEW    NAVY 


277 


A  FOURTEEN  INCH  50-CALIBER  GUN 


creased  efficiency  of  the  Navy. 
Members  of  eleven  leading  scientific 
societies  were  asked  to  choose  two 
members  each  of  the  Naval  Consult- 
ing Board.  Its  members  have  no 
status  except  the  status  of  American 
citizens  glad  to  respond  to  a  call 
to  put  their  talent,  genius,  learning 
and  time  at  the  service  of  their 
country.  They  even  pay  their  ex- 
penses when  on  their  governmental 
mission.  As  thus  constituted,  named 
by  their  own  societies,  without 
political  or  other  suggestion,  the 
board  as  originally  constituted  was 
composed  of  the  most  distinguished 


civilian  experts,  each  one  of  whom 
in  some  department  has  won  a  high 
place  in  his  profession. 

The  original  composition  of  the 
committee  was  as  follows: 

Thomas  A.  Edison,  Chairman,  and 
Miller  Reese  Hutchinson,  Assistant 
to  the  Chairman. 

American  Chemical  Society — W. 
R.  Whitney  and  L.  H.  Baekeland. 

American  Institute  of  Electrical 
Engineers — Frank  J.  Sprague  and 
B.  G.  Lamme. 

American  Mathematical  Society — 
Robert  S.  Woodward  and  Arthur  G. 
Webster. 


Copyright  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE   NAVAL   CONSULTING  BOARD   IN   SESSION 


278 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Copyright  International  Film  Service 
THE    SUPERDREADNOUGHT 
"PENNSYLVANIA" 


American  Society  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers— Andrew  M.  Hunt  and  Alfred 
Craven. 

American  Aeronautical  Society — 
Matthew  B.  Sellers  and  Hudson 
Maxim. 

Inventors'  Guild — Peter  Cooper 
Hewitt  and  Thomas  Robins. 

American  Society  of  Automobile 
Engineers — Howard  E.  Coffin  and 
Andrew  L.  Riker. 

American  Institute  of  Mining  En- 
gineers (Metals) — William  L.  Saun- 
ders  and  Benjamin  B.  Thayer. 

American  Electro-Chemical  Soci- 
ety— Joseph  W.  Richards  and  Law- 
rence Addicks. 

The  American  Society  of  Mechan- 
ical Engineers — William  Le  Roy 
Emmet  and  Spencer  Miller. 

American  Society  of  Aeronautic 
Engineers — Henry  A.  Wise  Wood 
and  Elmer  A.  Sperry. 

They  organized  by  the  election  of 
these  officers :  Chairman,  Thomas 
A.  Edison ;  First  Vice-Chairman, 
Peter  Cooper  Hewitt;  Second  Vice- 
Chairman,  William  L.  Saunders; 


Secretary,  Thomas  Robins;  Assist- 
ant to  the  Chairman,  M.  R.  Hutchi- 
son. 

POWDER 

The  Navy  as  a  whole  has  so  many 
activities,  it  is  difficult  to  know 
what  to  omit  from  so  general  a  sur- 
vey as  this  must  be.  But  no  navy 
is  of  any  use  without  guns,  and  guns 
can't  shoot  without  powder  I 


'POMP    AND   CIRCUMSTANCED 
ANNAPOLIS 


During  the  fiscal  year  1915,  3,984,- 
978  pounds  of  smokeless  powder  was 
manufactured  at  the  Indian  Head 
(Md.)  powder  factory.  This  pow- 


THE    NEW    NAVY 


279 


der  cost  $0.341256  per  pound,  con- 
siderably less  than  it  can  be  bought 
for  in  the  open  market. 

There  was  an  increase  of  700,000 
pounds  of  new  powder  during  1915 
over  1914,  due  not  to  increase  in  the 
powder  factory  but  to  improved 
methods  of  operation.  With  the  new 
nitrating  house  in  full  operation  the 
output  of  the  Indian  Head  plant  for 
1916  will  be  about  5,000,000  pounds 
and  for  the  fiscal  year  1917  about 
6,000,000  pounds. 

Owing  to  the  abnormal  rise  in  the 
cost  of  raw  materials  on  account  of 
the  war,  the  cost  of  the  powder  now 
being  manufactured  is  higher  than 
for  the  last  fiscal  year,  the  raw  ma- 
terials for  which  were  nearly  all 
contracted  for  before  the  war. 

The  amount  of  powder  delivered 
by  the  private  plants  during  1915 
was  3,112,868  pounds,  but  now,  be- 
cause of  the  increase  of  powder  mak- 
ing facilities  at  Indian  Head,  out- 
side contracts  have  been  greatly  re- 
duced. At  the  same  time,  it  is 
recognized  that  the  facilities  for  the 
production  of  smokeless  powder  and 
other  explosives  in  the  United  States 
enormously  increased  owing  to  the 
demands  of  the  belligerents  for  these 
materials  form  a  naval  asset  of 
great  value. 

PEACE    SERVICES 

Of  the  functions  of  the  Navy  in 
time  of  peace  much  could  be  writ- 


ten, but  space  forbids.  Perhaps 
nothing  sums  its  labors  up  better 
than  the  words  of  Mr.  Daniels  in 
transmitting  his  report  to  President 
Wilson.  He  states  that  during  1915 
"our  ships  have  charted  islands  in 
the  Caribbean  and  in  Alaskan 
waters.  They  have  been  privileged 
to  carry  thousands  of  non-com- 
batants from  the  war  zone  to  places 
of  refuge.  They  have  protected 
Americans  and  American  interests 
on  the  coasts  of  war-torn  Mexico. 
They  have  afforded  a  patrol  of  our 
coasts  to  preserve  neutrality.  They 
have  carried  aid  to  flood  sufferers 
in  China  and  given  succor  to  the 
starving  in  Samoa.  They  have 
transported  marines  to  preserve 
peace  in  the  revolutionary  period  in 
Haiti  and  have  acted  as  protector 
and  custodian  of  the  interests  of 
that  island  in  the  days  of  its  travail. 
Maneuvers,  war  games,  target  prac- 
tice, reviews,  have  given  evidence  of 
its  readiness  and  fitness.  The  in- 
crease in  its  personnel  and  in  their 
training,  the  improvement  in  the 
morale  of  officers  and  men,  and  the 
perfection  of  its  organization  tell 
the  story  of  a  year  of  effort  crowned 
with  most  gratifying  advance. 

"The  Navy  is  strong.  It  must  be 
stronger  to  justify  the  confidence  the 
country  reposes  in  it  ...  as  the 
first  arm  of  defense  of  our  shores 
and  the  protection  of  the  liberties 
of  our  people." 


THE  TERRACE   AT  BANCROFT  HALE,   ANNAPOLIS 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE  ARMY 

BY   C.   H.   CLAUDY 


TERRITORIAL 


IN  its  territorial  organization  the 
Army  is  arranged  in  departments, 

as  follows : 

The  Eastern  Department. — Em- 
bracing the  New  England  States, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware,  Maryland,  District 
of  Columbia,  Virginia,  West  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  the 
post  of  Ft.  Logan  H.  Roots,  Arkan- 
sas, the  Coast  Defenses  of  New  Or- 
leans and  Galveston,  the  Panama 
Canal  Zone,  and  the  island  of  Porto 
Rico,  with  the  adjacent  islands  and 
keys.  Headquarters  are  at  Gov- 
ernor's Island,  N.  Y. 

The  Southern  Department  in- 
cludes the  States  of  Texas  (except 
the  Coast  Defenses  of  Galveston), 
Louisiana  (except  the  Coast  De- 
fenses of  New  Orleans),  Arkansas 
(except  the  post  of  Ft.  Logan  H. 
Roots),  Oklahoma,  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona.  Headquarters  are  at  Ft. 
Sam  Houston,  Texas. 

The  Central  Department. — Em- 
bracing the  States  of  Ohio,  Michi- 
gan, Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  South 
Dakota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Wyoming  (except  that 
part  included  in  the  Yellowstone 
Park),  Colorado  and  the  post  of  Ft. 
Missoula,  Mont.  Its  headquarters 
are  at  Chicago,  111. 

The  Western  Department  includes 
the  States  of  Washington,  Oregon, 


Idaho,  Montana  (Ft.  Missoula  ex 
cepted),  Yellowstone  Park  in  Wyo- 
ming, California,  Nevada,  Utah  and 
Alaska.  Its  headquarters  are  in 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Hawaiian  Department. — Em- 
bracing the  Hawaiian  Islands  and 
their  dependencies.  Headquarters, 
Honolulu,  Hawaii. 

The  Philippine  Department  em- 
braces all  the  islands  of  the  Philip- 
pine Archipelago,  with  headquarters 
at  Manila,  P.  I. 

ORGANIZATION 

Internally  the  Army  is  divided 
as  follows : 

The  General  Officers,  General 
Staff  Corps,  Adjutant  General's  De- 
partment, Inspector  General's  De 
partinent.  Judge  Advocate  General's 
Department,  Quartermaster  Corps, 
Medical  Department,  Medical  Re- 
serve Corps,  Dental  Corps,  Contract 
Surgeons,  Corps  of  Engineers,  Ord- 
nance Department,  Signal  Corps, 
Bureau  of  Insular  Affairs,  Chap- 
lains and  Military  Academy. 

Commands  in  the  field  are  organ- 
ized as  Cavalry,  Field  Artillery, 
Coast  Artillery,  Infantry  and  Phil- 
ippine Scouts. 

On  September  20,  1916,  there  were 
authorized  11  Major  Generals  and 
30  Brigadier  Generals,  244  Colonels, 
231  Lieutenant  Colonels,  658  Majors, 
2,099  Captains,  2,562  First  Lieuten- 
ants, 1,369  Second  Lieutenants  and 
85  Chaplains  as  officers,  a  total  of 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


282 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


7,289  for  a  total  authorized  strength 
of  117,038  enlisted  men. 

THE    NEW    ARMY    BILL 

But  the  new  Army  act  of  June 
22,  1916,  makes  changes  which  will 
be  far-reaching  in  effect,  increasing 
the  authorized  strength  to  175,000 
men. 

According  to  the  new  law  the 
Army  of  the  United  States  shall  con- 
sist of  the  Regular  Army,  the  Vol- 
unteer Army,  the  Officers'  Reserve 
Corps,  the  Enlisted  Reserve  Corps, 
the  National  Guard  while  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  and 
such  other  land  forces  as  may  be 
authorized  by  law. 

The  Regular  Army  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  existing  organ- 
izations, is  to  consist  of  sixty-four 
regiments  of  Infantry,  twenty-five 
regiments  of  Cavalry,  twenty-one 
regiments  of  Field  Artillery,  a  Coast 
Artillery  Corps,  the  Brigade,  Divi- 
sion, Army  Corps  and  Army  Head- 
quarters, with  their  detachments 
and  troops,  a  General  Staff  Corps, 


the  retired  list,  additional  officers, 
professors,  Corps  of  Cadets,  general 
Army  service  de.tachment,  and  de- 
tachments of  Cavalry,  Field  Artil- 
lery and  Engineers,  and  the  band 
of  the  United  States  Military  Acad- 
emy, the  post  non-commissioned 
staff  officers,  the  recruiting  parties, 
the  recruit  depot  detachments  and 
unassigned  recruits,  the  service 
school  detachments,  disciplinary 
guards  and  disciplinary  organiza- 
tions, Indian  Scouts,  and  other  offi- 
cers and  enlisted  men  as  may  be 
provided. 

It  is  expressly  stipulated  in  the 
new  law  that  the  enlisted  personnel 
of  all  organizations  of  the  Regular 
Army  shall  be  at  all  times  main- 
tained at  a  strength  not  below  the 
legal  minimum  strength. 

The  total  enlisted  force  of  the 
Regular  Army,  excluding  the  Phil- 
ippine Scouts  and  the  enlisted  men 
of  the  Quartermaster,  Medical  and 
Signal  Corps,  and  unassigned  re- 
cruits, must  not,  except  in  actual  or 
threatened  war,  exceed  175,000  men. 


ACTUAL    STRENGTH   OF   THE    ENTIRE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT 
JUNE   30,    1916 


Branches  of  Service 

Officers 

Enlisted  Men 

Total 

General  officers  
Staff  corps  and  departments  
Engineers  
Cavalry  
Field  Artillery  
Coast  Artillery  Corps 

25 
1,012 
207 

778 
262 
728 

'  10,896  ' 
1,948 
14,646 
5,664 
19  185 

25 
11,908 
2,155 
15,424 
5,926 
19  913 

Infantry  
Miscellaneous 

1,604 

36,123 
7  303 

37,727 
7  303 

Total  regular  army  
Philippine  scouts  

4,616 

182 

95,765 
5,430 

100,381 
5,612 

Aggregate  

4,798 

101,195 

105,993 

an  Adjutant  General's  Department, 
an  Inspector  General's  Department, 
a  Judge  Advocate  General's  Depart- 
ment, a  Quartermaster  Corps,  a 
Medical  Department,  a  Corps  of  En- 
gineers, an  Ordnance  Department,  a 
Signal  Corps,  the  officers  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Insular  Affairs,  the  Militia 
Bureau,  the  detached  officers,  the 
detached  non-commissioned  officers, 
the  Chaplains,  the  Regular  Army 
Reserve,  officers  and  enlisted  men  on 


1915    STRENGTH 

But  even  before  the  passage  of 
the  recent  Army  bill  there  was  a 
considerable  discrepancy  between 
what  was  authorized  and  what  was 
in  existence.  At  the  close  of  the 
fiscal  year  1915,  the  most  recent  date 
for  which  a  report  is  available, 
there  were  appropriations  available 
for  the  maintenance  of  an  Army 
and  all  of  the  accessory  employees 
aggregating  5,023  officers  and  102,- 


el 


\ 


p 


$A 

4  •   v      -?,', 


K 


#' 


284 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


985  enlisted  men.  Of  these  67,000 
men  were  mobile  army  troops,  20,- 
000  coast  defense  troops,  and  the 
balance  Hospital  Corps,  quartermas- 
ter men  and  other  employees.  Of 
this  total  number,  about  29,000  were 
on  service  outside  continental 
United  States,  leaving  about  46,000 
mobile  army  troops  and  about  13,000 
coast  defense  troops  within  our 
borders. 

The  actual  strength  of  the  entire 
military  establishment  on  June  30, 
1915,  by  branches  of  service,  is 
shown  in  the  table  on  page  282. 

DISTRIBUTION 

Prior  to  the  Spanish  War  the 
United  States  kept  its  Army  at 
home,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
officers  and  men  opening  up  com- 
munication in  Alaska  and  in  foreign 
diplomatic  service.  How  becoming 
a  world  power  affects  Army  life  is 
well  shown  in  the  accompanying 
table. 


ors,  miscellaneous  public  works,  etc. ; 
$45,092,760.02  for  rivers  and  har- 
bors, and  the  balance,  $111,744,185.95, 
for  military  purposes,  including  the 
support  of  the  Army,  Military  Acad- 
emy, militia,  fortifications,  arsenals, 
military  posts  and  miscellaneous 
items. 

The  various  items,  showing  ex- 
penditures for  1915  and  authorized 
for  1916,  are  shown  in  the  table  on 
the  next  page. 

ENLISTMENTS 

Perhaps  nothing  in  the  new  Army 
bill  is  of  greater  importance  than 
the  sections  referring  to  enlistments 
and  reserve.  Hitherto  enlistments 
have  been  for  three  years.  Now 
they  are  to  be  for  seven  years,  three 
in  active  service  and  four  in  the 
reserve.  There  is  also  a  provision, 
designed  to  attract  capable  men  who 
do  not  desire  so  long  an  active  serv- 
ice, that  an  enlisted  man  serving  a 
year  honorably  may,  on  the  recom- 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES   ARMY 


Geographical  Distribution 

Officers 

Enlisted  Men 

Total 

In  the  United  States  
In  Alaska  

3,502 
23 

64,756 
747 

68,258 
770 

In  the  Philippine  Islands: 
Regular  army  
Philippine  scouts  
In  China 

455 

182 
45 

12,454 
5,430 
1  361 

12,909 
5,612 
1  406 

In  Porto  Rico  
In  Hawaii  
In  the  Isthmian  Canal  zone  
Troops  en  route  and  officers  at  other  for- 
eign stations  

37 

322 
192 

40 

670 
9,199 
6,15i 

427 

707 
9,521 
6,343 

467 

Total 

4  798 

101  195 

105  993 

APPROPRIATION 

The  expenditures  by  the  War  De- 
partment for  all  purposes  during  the 
fiscal  year  1915  amounted  to  $166,- 
355,172.99.  Of  this  amount,  $9,518,- 
227.02  was  for  the  civil  establish- 
ment, that  is,  maintenance  of  the 
War  Department  as  an  Executive 
Department,  buildings  and  grounds 
in  and  around  Washington,  national 
and  military  parks,  monuments,  na- 
tional cemeteries,  support  of  national 
homes  for  disabled  soldiers  and  sail- 


mendation  of  certain  superior  offi- 
cers and  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  be  furloughed  to 
the  Regular  Army  Reserve. 

To  further  enlistments  the  Presi- 
dent is  authorized  to  utilize  the 
services  of  postmasters  of  the  sec- 
ond, third  and  fourth  classes  in  pro- 
curing recruits  for  the  Army.  For 
each  recruit  secured  by  a  postmas- 
ter, who  is  accepted  for  enlistment, 
the  postmaster  is  to  receive  $5. 

In  addition   to  military  training, 


THE    ARMY 


285 


EXPENDITURES   FOR   1915   AND   APPROPRIATION   FOR   1916 


Expenditures 
for  the  fiscal 
year  ended 
June  30,  1915 

Appropriations 
for  the  fiscal 
year  ending 
June  30,  1916 

Civil  establishment  (War  Department  proper). 
Salaries,    contingent    expenses,    etc.    (including 
office  of  public  buildings  and  grounds)  
Civil  public  works  and  miscellaneous  (exclusive  of 
rivers  and  harbors)  : 
Military  and  national  parks 

$1,897,151.91 
587  560   14 

$1,925,598.00 
407  060  00 

Buildings  and  grounds  in  and  around  Washington 
National  cemeteries 

373,950.81 
328  912  21 

314,490.00 
312  070  00 

Miscellaneous  objects  
National  home  for  disabled  volunteer  soldiers  .  .  . 
Miscellaneous  relief  acts,  etc  

955,170.07 
4,193,665.65 
1,181,816.23 

379,760.00 
4,931,009.50 
1,973,471.20 

Total  civil  estabh'shment  

$9,518,227.02 

$10,243,458.70 

Military  establishment: 
Support  of  the  army 

$98  076  645  78 

$96  519  195  87 

Military  academy  
Militia 

996,035  .  84 
5  007  814  98 

1,069,813.37 
5  440  000  00 

Fortifications  
Arsenals  

6,300,355  .  59 
481,096.19 

6,060,216.90 
653,600.00 

Military  posts  and  miscellaneous  

882,237.57 

570,924.99 

Total  military  establishment  
Rivers  and  harbors 

$111,744,185.95 
45  092  760  02 

$110,313,751.13 
33  989  811   64 

Grand  total  

$166,355,172.99 

$154,547,021.47 

soldiers  in  active  service  will  here- 
after be  given  the  opportunity  to 
study  and  receive  instruction  upon 
educational  lines  to  increase  their 
military  efficiency  and  enable  them 
to  return  to  civil  life  better  equipped 
for  either  industry  or  general  busi- 
ness. Civilian  teachers  are  to  be 
employed  to  aid  Army  officers  in 
such  instruction,  and  "part  may  con- 
sist of  vocational  education  either 
in  agriculture  or  the  mechanic  arts." 

PAY    OF    ENLISTED    MEN 

The  monthly  pay  of  enlisted  men 
is  provided  for  rather  liberally.  Of 
course,  clothes,  medical  and  dental 
attention,  quarters  and  rations  are 
furnished  in  addition  to  the  follow- 
ing monthly  pay: 

Quartermaster  sergeant,  senior 
grade,  Quartermaster  Corps ;  mas- 
ter hospital  sergeant,  Medical  De- 
partment; master  engineer,  senior 
grade,  Corps  of  Engineers  ;  and  band 
leader,  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery 
and  Corps  of  Engineers,  $75.  Hos- 
pital sergeant,  Medical  Department; 


and  master  engineer,  junior  grade, 
Corps  of  Engineers,  $65.  Sergeant, 
first  class,  Medical  Department,  $50. 
Sergeant,  first  class,  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers;  regimental  supply  sergeant, 
Infantry,  Cavalry,  Field  Artillery 
and  Corps  of  Engineers ;  battalion 
supply  sergeant,  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers; and  assistant  engineer,  Coast 
Artillery  Corps,  $45.  Assistant  band 
leader,  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery 
and  Corps  of  Engineers ;  and  ser- 
geant bugler,  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Ar- 
tillery and  Corps  of  Engineers,  $40. 
Musician,  first  class,  Infantry,  Cav- 
alry, Artillery  and  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers; supply  sergeant,  mess  ser- 
geant and  stable  sergeant,  Corps  of 
Engineers ;  sergeant,  Medical  De- 
partment, $36;  supply  sergeant,  In- 
fantry, Cavalry  and  Artillery;  mess 
sergeant,  Infantry,  Cavalry  and  Ar- 
tillery; cook,  Medical  Department; 
horseshoer,  Infantry,  Cavalry  and 
Artillery,  Corps  of  Engineers,  Signal 
Corps  and  Medical  Department; 
stable  sergeant,  Infantry  and  Cav- 
alry ;  radio  sergeant,  Coast  Artillery 


286 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Corps ;  and  musicians,  second  class, 
Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery  and 
Corps  of  Engineers,  $30.  Musician, 
third  class,  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Ar- 
tillery and  Corps  of  Engineers ;  cor- 
poral, Medical  Department,  $24.  Sad- 
dler, Infantry,  Cavalry,  Field  Artil- 
lery, Corps  of  Engineers  and  Medical 
Department ;  mechanic,  Infantry, 
Cavalry  and  Field  Artillery  and  Med- 
ical Department ;  farrier,  Medical  De- 
partment;  and  wagoner,  Infantry, 
Field  Artillery  and  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers, $21.  Private,  first  class,  In- 
fantry, Cavalry,  Artillery  and  Med- 
ical Department,  $18.  Private,  Med- 
ical Department,  and  bugler,  $15. 

LOSSES 

With  the  prospect  of  so  great  an 
increase  in  enlistment  as  the  new 
bill  calls  for,  it  is  natural  to  in- 
quire, first,  what  the  general  loss 
to  the  Army  may  be,  and,  second, 
if  existing  methods  of  recruiting, 
even  with  the  help  of  postmasters, 
will  serve. 

Enlisted  men  of  the  Regular 
Army,  to  the  number  of  27,020,  were 
discharged  upon  expiration  of  serv- 
ice during  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1915.  During  the  preceding  year  the 
number  of  discharges  upon  expira- 
tion of  service  was  25,027,  and  dur- 
ing 1913  it  was  12,095.  These  num- 
bers are,  respectively,  19.7,  20,  11.3 
per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of 
enlisted  men  in  service  or  of  en- 
listment contracts  in  force  during 
these  years. 

Losses  from  all  causes  other  than 
expiration  of  service  in  1915  num- 
bered 14,517.  During  the  preceding 
year  the  losses  were  12,487,  and 
during  1913  they  were  13,254.  These 
numbers  are,  respectively,  10.6,  9.97 
and  12.4  per  cent  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  enlisted  contracts  in  force 
during  these  years. 

The  desertions  from  the  Army 
during  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1915,  aggregated  4,435,  which  is  3.23 
per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of 
enlistment  contracts  in  force.  This 
is  a  slight  increase  over  the  per- 
centage (3.10)  for  1914.  The  num- 


ber of  desertions  during  the  year 
1915  is  553  greater  than  the  number 
reported  during  1914,  but  16  less 
than  the  number  reported  in  1913. 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  deser- 
tions over  that  for  1914  is  natural, 
because  the  number  of  enlistment 
contracts  in  force  during  1915  is 
12,007  greater  than  in  1914.  The 
increase  in  desertions  is  due  in  part 
to  the  fact  that  there  were  nearly 
1,800  more  original  enlistments  in 
1915  than  in  1914,  it  being  a  well 
known  fact  that  desertions  are  fre- 
quent during  the  early  periods  of 
service. 

ENLISTMENT    METHODS 

Recruiting  officers  at  stations  re- 
port whether  applications  for  enlist- 
ment are  the  result,  wholly  or  in 
part,  of  any  form  of  advertising. 
The  result  of  each  of  the  several 
methods  of  advertising  during  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1915,  is 
given  on  the  second  page  following. 

RECRUITING   FOR  THE   ARMY 

The  general  recruiting  detail  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  1915 
consisted  of  129  commissioned  offi- 
cers and  831  enlisted  men.  At  the 
end  of  that  year  the  detail  consisted 
of  124  officers  and  636  enlisted  men. 
Sixty-five  officers  are  regularly  on 
duty  at  general  recruit  depots  and 
59  officers  on  duty  at  recruiting 
stations. 

Within  the  year  enlistments  and 
re-enlistments  numbered  48,813,  in- 
cluding 44,427  for  the  line  of  the 
Army,  1,031  for  the  Hospital  Corps, 
1,096  for  the  Quartermaster  Corps, 
834  for  other  staff  departments,  and 
1,425  for  the  Philippine  Scouts.  The 
enlistments  numbered  31,939,  of 
whom  4,795  had  former  service.  Of 
these  enlistments,  30,342  (4,255  with 
former  service)  were  for  the  line  of 
the  Army,  339  (120  with  former 
service)  for  the  Hospital  Corps,  175 
(139  with  former  service)  for  the 
Quartermaster  Corps,  284  (78  with 
former  service)  for  other  staff  de- 
partments, and  799  (203  with  for- 
mer service)  for  the  Philippine 


288 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ENLISTMENTS   THROUGH   ADVERTISEMENT 


Methods  of  Advertising 

Number  of 
Applications 

Sight  of  recruiting  flag  and  station       

64  703 

Recruiting  poster 

28  197 

In  parks  and  squares.  
Canvass  by  recruiting  parties 

22,589 
11  900 

Recruiting  circulars  
Recruiting  booklet 

11,611 
5  792 

Special  circulars  issued  by  recruiting  parties  
Newspaper  advertising  >.  
Handbills  
Advertising  cards. 

5,341 
4,159 
3,734 
905 

Electric  recruiting  sign  (2  districts)  

696 

Personal  letters  from  recruiting  officers  
Baseball  team  (1  district)  

545 
435 

News  items  in  newspapers  
Photographs  (1  district,  July,  August  and  September)  
Postal  cards  

139 
135 
41 

Total  

160,922 

Not  the  result  of  advertising. 

6,575 

Total  number  of  applicants  reported  upon  .  . 

167,497 

Scouts.  The  re-enlistments  for  the 
line  of  the  Army  numbered  14,085, 
for  the  Hospital  Corps  692,  for  the 
Quartermaster  Corps  921,  for  other 
staff  departments  550,  and  for  the 
Philippine  Scouts  626 ;  in  all,  16,874. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  Army 
is  .very  particular  about  men  it  ac- 
cepts for  enlistment.  The  total  num- 
ber of  enlistments  (48,813)  for  1915 
does  not  show  that  130,206  men  who 
applied  were  rejected  for  one  cause 
or  another — minority,  small  size, 
aliens,  illiteracy,  disease,  imperfect 
physique,  etc. 

With  so  satisfactory  a  condition 
existing  and  with  the  new  induce- 
ments provided,  it  is  not  felt  that 
any  special  difficulty  will  obtain  in 
recruiting  175,000  men  in  a  reason- 
able period. 

RESERVE 

The  new  enlistment  law  must 
necessarily  operate  to  procure  an 
Army  Reserve  of  no  mean  propor- 
tions within  a  very  few  years.  Ac- 
cording to  the  new  law,  this  Reserve 
is  to  consist  of  all  the  enlisted  men 
in  the  Reserve  at  the  time  the  act 
was  passed  (a  number  so  small  as 
to  be  disregarded),  all  enlisted  men 
who  sign  for  seven  years  and  serve 
three  honorably,  such  men  as  may 


be  furloughed  into  the  Reserve  be- 
fore completing  three  years'  active 
service,  and  all  who  hold  an  honor- 
able discharge  from  the  Army,  with 
good  character,  are  yet  physically 
qualified  and  not  over  forty-five 
years  old,  who  may  enlist  in  the 
Reserve. 

Reservists  of  the  Army  receive  $24 
a  year  in  time  of  peace ;  if  mobilized, 
the  Reservist  takes  status  of  a  regu- 
lar enlisted  man  and  pay  as  such. 
But  in  addition,  on  reporting  phy- 
sically fit  for  duty,  a  called-out  Re- 
servist will  receive  $3  for  each 
month  he  has  belonged  to  the  Re- 
serve, as  well  as  transportation  and 
subsistence  from  home  to  mobiliza- 
tion point. 

To  secure  a  Reserve  of  officers 
available  for  service  in  the  Army,, 
as  officers  of  the  Quartermaster 
Corps  and  other  staff  corps  and  de- 
partments, as  officers  for  recruit  ren- 
dezvous and  depots,  and  as  officers 
of  volunteers,  there  is  organized  an 
Officers'  Reserve  Corps.  Members 
of  the  Officers'  Reserve  Corps  are 
not  subject  to  call  for  service  in 
time  of  peace. 

The  President  is  authorized  to  ap- 
point and  commission  as  Reserve 
officers  in  all  grades-  up  to  and  in- 
cluding that  of  major,  such  citizens 


THE    ARMY 


289 


as  are  found  qualified  to  hold  such 
commissions. 

ORGANIZED    MILITIA 

The  Organized  Militia  in  the  va- 


returns  had  a  reported  strength  of 
8,705  commissioned  officers  and  120,- 
693  enlisted  men.  Of  this  force, 
1,406  officers  and  5,446  enlisted  men 
belong  to  the  staff  and  non-com- 


rious  States  according  to  the  latest      batant    branches,    440    officers    and 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MILITARY  SMALL  ARMS 

1,  Old  matchlock  arquebuse.  2,  Pistol  showing  wheel  lock.  3,  Flintlock  musketoou.  4, 
American  or  squirrel  rifle.  5,  American  flintlock  army  rifle  of  1815.  6,  Springfield  rifle,' 
1863.  7,  Breech  loading  American  army  musket,  1824.  8,  Sharp  breech  loading  carbine, 
1852.  9,  The  Burnside  carbine,  a  Civil  War  weapon.  10,  Spencer  repeating  breeoh  loading 
gun  of  1860.  11,  Henry  magazine  breech  loading  musket,  1860.  12,  The  Allin  alteration 
Springfield  rifle,  1865.  13,  The  English  Snider  alteration.  14,  Springfield  rifle,  1873. 
15,  English,  Martini-Henry  rifle.  16,  Prussian  needle  gun.  17,  French  Chassepot.  18,f 
French  Lebel  rifle  of  1893.  19,  English  Lee-Enfield,  1903.  20,  Late  model  of  German 
Mauser.  21,  Austrian  Mannlicher.  22,  Latest  Mauser  model,  used  by  Japan.  23,  1902 
and  1908  Krag-Jorgensen,  used  by  the  United  States.  24,  Latest  American  military  rifle. 


290 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


7,438  enlisted  men  belong  to  the 
Coast  Artillery,  and  6,859  officers 
and  107,809  enlisted  men  to  the 
mobile  branches  (Engineers,  Field 
Artillery,  Cavalry  and  Infantry). 
The  mobile  troops,  with  auxiliary 
forces,  are  organized  into  twelve  tac- 
tical divisions.  The  National  Guard 
of  New  York  in  its  organization  is 
the  closest  approximation  to  a  com- 
plete divisional  unit. 

On  a  divisional  basis  there  is  an 
excess  of  Infantry  units  equivalent 
to  23  regiments,  and  a  deficiency  in 
necessary  elements  as  follows 
(1915)  : 

48  Troops  Cavalry. 

74  Batteries  Field  Artillery. 

88  Companies  Machine  Guns.. 

5  2/3  Battalions  Engineers. 

2  Battalions  Signal  Corps. 

8  Field  Hospitals. 

20  Ambulance  Companies. 

11  Medical  Supply  Detachments. 

13  Sanitary  Detachments. 

In  connection  with  this  part  of 
what  would  be  a  volunteer  army 
in  time  of  war  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  issue  of  rifles  to  rifle  clubs 
and  schools.  Since  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  1914  have 
been  put  into  effect,  1,780  rifles  and 
1,446,560  rounds  of  ammunition  have 
been  issued  to  261  rifle  clubs,  of 
which  195  drew  both  rifles  and  am- 
munition, 65  ammunition  only,  and 
1  rifles  only.  Twenty  schools  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  act  and 
have  drawn  1,015  rifles,  622  car- 
bines, and  118,400  rounds  of  am- 
munition. The  rifles  are  of  the  model 
of  1898;  the  carbines  of  the  model 
of  1S99  (both  Krag- Jorgensens ) . 
The  War  Department  has  en- 
deavored to  make  it  as  easy  as 
possible  for  the  clubs  and  schools 
to  obtain  arms  and  ammunition 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

AERONAUTICS 

It  is  impossible  in  a  short  sketch 
of  this  kind  to  take  up  and  epi- 
tomize the  work  of  all  the  various 
arms  of  the  service.  The  Army  or- 
ganization is  too  vast  a  machine  and 
its  activities  too  great  to  permit 
brief  treatment.  Its  own  yearly 
reports  require  three  large  volumes 


of  a  thousand  pages  each,  not  to 
mention  the  thousands  of  documents 
and  orders  continually  issued. 

But  the  aeronautical  work  of  the 
Signal  Corps  is  too  vital  to  be 
omitted. 

There  is  no  blinking  the  fact  that 
up  to  the  present  the  United  States, 
the  cradle  of  aviation,  has  been  most 
laggard  in  Army  development  of  fly- 
ing, and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  Signal  Corps  trials 
of  1908  and  1909  which  established 
the  heavier-than-air  machine  as  a 
factor  in  warfare. 

The  Signal  Corps  possesses  an 
Aviation  School  on  North  Island, 
San  Diego  Bay,  which  is  divided 
into  two  main  departments — the 
training  and  the  experimental  and 
repair  department.  The  former  is 
devoted  to  the  training  of  student 
officers  for  junior  military  aviators, 
the  instruction  of  enlisted  men  in 
flying,  and  the  training  of  suitable 
enlisted  men  for  aviation  mechani- 
cians. The  officers  are  given  theo- 
retical and  practical  courses  in  the 
art  of  flying;  in  the  construction, 
operation  and  repair  of  aeroplanes 
and  aeronautical  motors ;  in  meteor- 
ology, and  in  the  navigation  of  the 
air.  Enlisted  men  on  flying  duty 
are  instructed  in  the  art  of  flying 
and  in  the  operation  and  care  of 
aeroplanes  and  motors.  Aviation 
mechanicians  are  trained  to  repair 
aeroplanes  ajid  motors  by  a  thorough 
shop  course.  The  personnel  of  the 
training  course  consists  of  the  offi- 
cers assigned  as  instructors,  two  ex- 
pert civilian  instructors  in  flying, 
and  an  expert  civilian  instructor  on 
motors. 

The  experimental  and  repair  de- 
partment is  composed  of  the  officer 
in  charge,  an  aeronautical  engineer, 
an  aeronautical  mechanical  engi- 
neer, and  five  civilian  aviation 
mechanicians.  It  is  charged  with 
the  conduct  of  experiments  pertain- 
ing to  machines,  motors  and  appur- 
tenances, the  study  of  new  types, 
and  the  repair  and  reconstruction  of 
aeroplanes  and  motors, 


THE    ARMY 


291 


During  the  year  3,458  flights  of 
a  total  duration  of  1,269  hours  and 
50  minutes  were  made  and  1,730 
passengers  carried. 

The  most  important  thing  which 
militated  against  military  aviation 
was  lack  of  men.  The  new  law  is 
liberal  with  the  aviation  section  of 
the  Signal  Corps,  providing  for  one 
colonel,  one  lieutenant-colonel,  eight 
majors,  twenty-four  captains,  and 
114  first  lieutenants,  to  be  selected 
from  among  officers  of  the  Army  at 
large  of  corresponding  grades  or 
from  among  officers  of  the  grade 
below  who  are  qualified  as  military 
aviators. 

Special  inducements  as  to  pay  and 
privileges  are  offered  aviation  offi- 


cers and  the  bars  have  been  taken 
down  for  the  married  men  and  those 
over  thirty  years  of  age.  It  has 
been  a  vital  necessity,  for  the  United 
States  has  hardly  100  trained  aero- 
plane pilots,  both  military  and 
civilian.  England  and  France  have 
each  over  3,000. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  new  law  and 
enlarged  appropriation  ($13,280,000 
plus  two  items  of  $300,000  for  the 
purchase  of  sites  for  aeronautical 
stations)  should  go  far,  even  if  not 
the  whole  way,  in  providing  our 
Army  with  capable  aerial  eyes  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  place  the  na- 
tion which  invented  the  flying  ma- 
chine at  least  on  a  par  with  any 
enemy  likely  to  confront  it. 


The  Lewis  Gun  (top) 


The  Maxim  Gun  The  Benet-Mercier  Gun   (bottom) 

MODERN  MACHINE   GUNS 


Punching  holes   in  packages  of 

bills 
Receiving  the  bills 


The  top  of  the  macerator 
The  macerator  in  action 
Cutting  the  bills  in  two 


DESTRUCTION  OF  OLD  MONEY 


CHAPTEK  XXIV. 


UNCLE  SAM'S  MONEY 


PART  I.— THE  TREASURY 


TO  the  casual  visitor  at  Wash- 
ington,   the   Treasury   is,    out- 
side,   a    beautiful    example   of 
architecture  and,  inside,  a  bewilder- 
ing   succession     of    offices,     vaults, 
cages   and   rooms   with   people   and 
money  in  them.     He  is  taken  by  a 
guide    to    view    monetary    exhibits 


$76,640,000    ON    THE    SHELVES    IN    ONE 
BIN   AT   THE    TREASURY 

which  pass  his  comprehension,  per- 
haps sees  the  interior  of  a  vault 
with  more  wealth  than  Midas  ever 
dreamed  of,  and  leaves  with  the 
confused  impression  that  his  Uncle 
Samuel  is  very  rich  indeed,  but 


seems  to  need  a  lot  of  people  and 
paraphernalia  to  take  care  of  his 
cash! 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  activities 
of  the  Treasury  Department  are  so 
varied  and  so  numerous  that  only 
by  a  careful  study  of  the  laws  under 
which  it  operates  or  a  reading  of  its 
huge  reports  can  any  adequate  idea 
be  gained  of  its  work.  As  for  Uncle 
Sam's  money  and  the  way  it  is  taken 
care  of,  it  may  fairly  be  stated  that 
no  visitor  to  the  Treasury  really 
gets  any  adequate  idea. 

For  instance,  how  much  money  is 
there  in  the  United  States?  Not 
wealth — money  and  wealth  are  en- 
tirely different.  How  many  people, 
uninformed,  will  guess  that,  if  the 
United  States  had  to  depend  only 
on  its  money,  and  not  at  all  on  its 
wealth,  it  could  pay  its  own  ex- 
penses but  for  two  years  before 
going  broke?  Yet  such  is  the  case. 

The  general  stock  of  money  in  the 
United  States  June  30,  1915,  was 
$3,989,400,000.  Of  the  total  stock, 
$420,200,000,  or  10.53  per  cent,  was 
in  the  Treasury  as  assets.  Coin  and 
other  money  in  national  and  other 
reporting  banks,  exclusive  of  those 
in  the  island  possessions,  amounted 
to  $1,448,600,000,  and,  including 
$312,100,000  cash  in  Federal  Reserve 
Banks,  the  sum  of  $1,760,700,000,  or 
44.14  per  cent  of  the  total  stock  of 
money,  was  held  by  banks,  the  re- 
maining $1,808,500,000,  or  45.33  per 
cent,  being  outside  of  the  Treasury 
and  banks.  The  amount  in  circula- 
tion, exclusive  of  coin  and  other 


Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


294 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


money  in  the  Treasury  as  assets, 
is  $3,569,200,000,  or  $35.44  per  cap- 
ita, an  increase  of  $167,200,000  and  a 
per  capita  increase  of  $1.09  over  1914. 

The  accompanying  table  shows 
how  this  money  is  distributed. 

Of  the  total  money  in  circulation, 
$1,662,981,438  is  in  gold  coin  and 
certificates,  $414,961,583  is  United 
States  notes,  Treasury  notes  and 
Federal  Reserve  notes,  $785,393,047 
is  in  National  Bank  notes  and  $705,- 
883,506  in  silver  coin  and  certifi- 
cates. Thus  nearly  half  (46.59  per 
cent)  of  our  money  in  circulation 
is  gold  or  its  representative. 


THE     WEALTH     OF     GOLCONDA    IN 
TREASURY   VAULT— BILLS 
AND    COIN 


Except  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  where 
coin  is  still  preferred  to  paper,  the 
bulk  of  all  monetary  transactions  of 
ordinary  life  is  accomplished  with 
gold  or  silver  certificates,  bank 
notes  or  the  like.  Held  in  some 
suspicion  when  first  authorized 
(February  25,  1862),  the  familiar 
"greenback"  is  in  the  public  mind 
to-day  "as  good  as  gold,"  even 
though  it  be  but  a  silver  certificate. 
For  the  people  know  that  for  every 


II 

111 


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PMg 


o  <N  n  co  co  n  cc  cc  n  n 


1C  CO  lO  i-il 


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>  O  t-H  <N  CO  •*  10 


UNCLE    SAM'S    MONEY 


295 


greenback  in  their  hands,  calling  for 
a  silver  dollar,  there  actually  is  a 
silver  dollar  waiting  for  them — or 
for  whoever  calls  with  the  "bill"  to 
ask  for  it — in  the  vaults  at  Wash- 
ington. 

In  the  first  years  of  the  war, 
when  the  "greenbacks"  were  first 
made  legal,  the  total  amount  au- 
thorized was  $450,000,000 ;  the  high- 
est amount  outstanding  at  any  time 
was  $449,338,902,  on  January  30, 
1864. 


The  United  States  notes  issued 
and  redeemed,  by  denominations, 
during  the  fiscal  year  1915,  are  set 
out  in  the  table  on  page  296. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however, 
that  this  sum,  in  circulation  and 
constantly  redeemed  and  reissued, 
forms  the  bulk  of  the  redemption 
work  done  at  the  Treasury.  Na- 
tional Banks  issue  notes  which  have 
to  be  redeemed,  and  the  size  of  this 
financial  undertaking  may  be  im- 
agined when  it  is  stated  that  the 


COUNTING    COINS    BY    MACHINES 


By  the  canceling  and  retiring  of 
these  notes  as  they  were  received  in 
the  Treasury,  the  amount  outstand- 
ing was  reduced  more  than  $100,- 
000,000  when  the  process  was 
stopped  in  1878,  Congress  requiring 
the  notes  to  be  reissued  when  re- 
deemed. At  that  time  the  amount 
outstanding  was  $346,681,016,  and  it 
has  not  been  changed  since. 


money  received  by  the  National 
Bank  Redemption  Agency  during 
1915  was  $782,633,567,  the  largest 
for  any  year,  and  an  increase  of 
$75,876,965  over  1914.  Of  the  amount 
received,  46.53  per  cent  came  from 
banks  located  in  New  York  City. 
The  number  of  packages  was  45,532, 
containing  76,287,975  notes,  with  an 
average  value  of  $10.03. 


296 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Payments  for  notes  redeemed  was 
made  as  follows :  By  Treasurer's 
checks,  $122,230,578;  by  remittances 
of  new  United  States  currency, 
$307,667,490,  and  gold,  silver  and 
minor  coin,  $28,220;  and  by  credit 
of  $340,482,729  in  various  accounts. 

The  notes  assorted  and  delivered 
amounted  to  $764,926,023,  of  which 
sum  $130,389,450,  or  17.05  per  cent, 
was  fit  for  use  and  was  returned 
to  banks  of  issue  in  92,952  packages. 
The  remainder,  $634,536,573,  or 
82.95  per  cent,  was  delivered  to  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  $330,- 
110,347.50  in  191,068  packages,  as 
unfit  for  use,  to  be  destroyed  and 
replaced  by  new  notes  sent  to  the 
banks  of  issue,  and  $304,426,225.50, 
in  25,839  packages,  for  destruction 
and  retirement  from  circulation 
against  deposits  for  that  purpose. 

Securities  to  be  destroyed  are  de- 
livered to  the  so-called  destruction 
committee,  composed  of  representa- 
tives from  the  Secretary's  Office  and 
from  fiscal  bureaus  concerned.  Some 
idea  of  the  amount  of  work  handled 
by  this  committee  may  be  had  from 
the  fact  that  during  the  year  just 
closed  377,364,188  redeemed  notes 
(paper  money)  of  a  nominal  value 
of  $1,541,131,111,  were  destroyed,  as 
well  as  large  quantities  of  other 
securities. 

Securities  to  be  destroyed  are 
counted,  the  count  verified,  the  paper 


cut  in  pieces  or  punched  and  the 
pieces  then  fed  to  a  macerating  ma- 
chine, which,  with  water  and  power, 
makes  a  pulp  of  what  once  was 
money,  which  is  largely  used  by 
souvenir  makers  to  construct  memen- 
toes of  Washington ! 

But  a  "bill"  is  not  destroyed  with- 
out cause.  Formerly  any  soiled  or 
creased  bill  sent  in  was  condemned, 
a  new  one  put  in  its  place,  and  the 
old  one  destroyed.  Now,  however, 
Uncle  Sam  has  a  wonderful  money- 
laundering  machine  which  washes, 
resizes,  dries  and  irons  out  paper 
currency  unfit  for  circulation  but 
not  yet  torn  or  badly  worn.  The 
result  is  a  "bill"  hardly  to  be  told 
from  new.  There  are  laundering 
machines  at  Washington  and  at  the 
sub-treasuries  at  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia and  Chicago. 

Naturally,  it  takes  fine  paper  to 
stand  washing — and,  indeed,  no  finer 
paper  than  that  used  for  "green- 
backs" can  be  bought. 

The  paper  is  made  by  a  secret 
process  under  Treasury  'supervision 
by  annual  contract  under  competi- 
tive bids. 

The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing,  a  branch  of  the  depart- 
ment, designs,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary,  engraves  and  prints 
the  notes  and  certificates  complete. 
This  currency  is  delivered  to  the 
Treasurer  in  packages  of  4,000  notes, 


UNITED    STATES    NOTES    ISSUED    AND    REDEEMED 


Denominations 

Outstanding 
June  30,  1914 

Fiscal  Year,  1915 

Outstanding 
June  30,  1915 

Issued 

Redeemed 

One  dollar  
Two  dollars  

$1,823,218 
1,367,225 
202,996,730 
93,753,256 
8,470,812 
1,690,275 
3,775,000 

Sio3,580,000 
52,880,000 
880,000 
600,000 

$3,678 
3,612 
104,453,570 
38,675,260 
1,258,180 
259,900 
791,300 
1,168,500 
13,376,000 

-SI,  819,541 
1,363,612 
202,123,160 
107,957,996 
8,092,632 
2,030,375 
2,983,700 
2,749,000 
18,551,000 

ib',666 

Five  dollars  
Ten  dollars 

Twenty  dollars  
Fifty  dollars 

One  hundred  dollars  
Five  hundred  dollars  
One  thousand  dollars  
Five  thousand  dollars 

3,867,500 
29,927,000 

50,000 
2,000,000 

Ten  thousand  dollars  
Total 

10,000 

347,681,016 
1,000  000 

159,990,000 

159,990,000 

347,681,016 
1,000,000 

Unknown,  destroyed  .  . 

Net  

346,681,016 

159,990,000 

159,990,000 

346,681,016 

UNCLE    SAM'S    MONEY 


297 


the  product  of  1,000  sheets  of  paper. 
Such  a  package  is  taken  as  the  unit 
from  which  to  reckon  the  cost. 

Allowing  for  every  item  of  ex- 
pense attending  making,  issuing  and 
the  redeeming  of  paper  currency, 
the  average  cost  is  as  follows : 

Total  average  expense  of  4,000 

notes  issued $52.50 

Total  average  expense  of  4,000 

notes  redeemed S.54 


Aggregate    average    expense    of 

issue  and  redemption $fil.04 


"greenback"  into  circulation.  And 
it  is  staggering  to  find  the  total  cost 
for  redemption  of  299,455,985  pieces, 
and  issuing  of  280,174,317  pieces 
(1915)  to  total  $4,316,626.44  in  this 
year. 

But  a  curious  little  fact  commends 
itself  to  the  thoughtful.  Though  it 
costs  this  sum  to  issue  and  redeem 
paper  currency,  that  sum  is  more 
than  saved  by  the  prevention  of 
abrasion  of  gold  and  silver  coin. 
If  we  had  not  the  notes,  we  would 


THE    BILL    WASHING    MACHINE    ALWAYS    ATTRACTS    ATTENTION    AND    IS 
FREQUENTLY    LOANED    TO    EXPOSITIONS 


It  is  interesting  in  this  connection 
to  know  that  the  life  of  a  United 
States  one  dollar  note  averages  3.14 
years,  while  the  five  dollar  note  av- 
erages 2.73  years.  The  average  life 
of  all  denominations  of  United 
States  notes  is  3.22  years. 

It  actually  costs  the  Government, 
then,  about  1.526  ^ents  to  put  a 


use  the  coin.  The  Government  saves 
the  loss  by  abrasion  by  letting  paper 
be  "abraded"  and  keeping  the  coin 
in  its  vaults.  Think  it  over! 

With  all  his  multitudinous  activi- 
ties, and  the  huge  sums  of  income 
and  outgo  with  which  he  deals, 
Uncle  Sam  has  so  modern  and  accu- 
rate a  system  of  bookkeeping  that 


298 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


he  knows  every  day  just  where  he 
stands.  And  curious  though  it  may 
seem,  his  whole  balance  sheet  may 
be  written  on  a  page  smaller  than 
that  required  for  the  same  informa- 
tion of  many  a  big  private  industry. 


Below  is  a  condensed  balance  sheet, 
showing  just  where  Uncle  Sam's 
money  comes  from,  when  it  arrives 
in  the  Treasury,  and  just  where  it 
goes  to  when  it  is  paid  out.  The 
sheet  covers  years  1914  and  1935. 


RECEIPTS  AND  DISBURSEMENTS  FOR  THE  FISCAL  YEARS,  1914  AND  1915 


Account 

1914 

1915 

Increase 

Decrease 

Receipts 
Customs 

$292,320,014.51 
308,659,732  .  56 

71,381,274.74 
2,571,774.77 
50,855,941  .  14 

$209,786,672.21 
335,467,887  .  14 

80,201,758.86 
2,167,136.47 
59,441,800.12 

9,790,474.18 

$82,533,342.30 

Internal  revenue: 
Ordinary  
Corporation    and    in- 
come tax  
Lands 

$26,808,154.58 
8,820,484.12 
'  8,585,358.'  98 
1,037,537.07 

404,638.30 

Miscellaneous  

Receipts  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  

8,752,937.11 

Total  

734,541,674.83 
505,970  .  59 

696,855,728.98 
637,462.47 

45,252,034.75 
131,491.88 

82,937,980.60 

Deduct  moneys  covered 
by    warrant    in    year 
subsequent  to  the  de- 
posit thereof 

Total 

734,035,704  .  24 
637,462  .  47 

696,218,266.51 
1,692,561.07 

45,120,542.87 
1,055,098.60 

82.937,980.60 

Add  moneys  received  in 
fiscal    year    but    not 
covered  by  warrant  .  . 

Net  available  
Disbursements 
Legislative 

734,673.166.71 

13,468,827.66 
564,134.36 
5,253,911.78 
60,139,856.78 
2,237,069.37 
860,873  .  02 
22,656,130.62 

2,236,202.24 

22,208,141.12 

10,958,882  .  40 
3,768,904.05 
10,188,151.26 
3,232,179.61 
12,756,971.18 

697,910,827.58 

13,577,399.19 
3,065,880.50 
4,908,606.79 
71,107,291.59 
2,215,535.19 
885,870.15 
29,069,642.99 

1,894,873.64 
6,636,592  .  60 

29,131,112.07 

11,499,098.76 
3,783,611.86 
10,434,871.97 
5,738,773.78 
13,220,662.97 

108,571.53 
2,501,746.14 

36,762,339.13 

Executive  
State  Department  
Treasury  Department.  . 
War  Department,  civil.  . 
Navy  Department,  civil. 
Interior,  civil  .  .  .<r.  
Post  Office  Department 
proper                  ... 

345,364  !  99 
21  ',534  .'  18 

10,967,434.81 

24,997.13 
6,413,512.37 

341,328.60 

Postal  deficiencies.  .  .  . 
Department  of  Agricul- 
ture   

6,636,592.60 
6,922,970.95 

540,216.36 
14,707.81 
246,720.71 
2,506,594.17 
463,691  .  79 

Department     of    Qom* 
merce  '.  .  ".  v 
Department  of  Labor.  .  . 
Department  of  Justice.  . 
Independent  offices  .... 
District  of  Columbia  .  .  . 

Total  civil  and  mis- 
cellaneous   
Military  Establishment, 
including    rivers    and 
harbors  
Naval  Establishment  .  .  . 
Indian  Service 

170,530,235.45 

173,522,804.20 
139,682,186.28 
20,215,075.96 
173  440  231    12 

207,169,824.05 

172,973,091.73 
141,835,653.98 
22,130,350.70 
164,387,941.61 

22,902,897.04 

37,347,756.37 

708,167.77 
549,712.47 

2,153,467.70 
1,915,274.74 

38,940.34 

Pensions  

9,052,289.51 

Interest   on   the   public 
debt  

Total  ordinary  dis- 
bursements 

22,863,956.70 

700,254,489.71 
'  '34,418,677!  66 

731,399,759.11 

41,455,439.15 
31,145,269.40 

10,310,169.75 

Net 

Surplus  .  .  . 
Deficit  

33,488,931.53 

PART  II. 


THE  BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING 

By  Hon.  JOSEPH  E.  RALPH,  Director 


THE  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing  was  organized  under 
act  of  July  11,  1862,  and  its 
first  work  was  an  attempt  to  apply 
machinery  to  the  trimming  and  sep- 
arating of  Treasury  notes,  such 
notes  having  been  printed  by  private 
bank  note  companies  and  then  for- 
warded to  Washington  for  signature 
of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  and 
the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 
This  work,  however,  soon  became 
physically  impossible  for  these  offi- 
cers to  perform  and  a  large  corps  of 
clerks  was  employed  for  this  pur- 
pose. This  was  very  expensive,  and 
to  obviate  it  authority  was  granted 
by  Congress  to  have  these  signatures 
engraved  in  the  plates  and  the  seal 
of  the  Treasury  imprinted  on  the 
notes,  and  steps  were  taken  to  pro- 
cure the  necessary  machinery  to  per- 
form this  work  of  sealing  in  the 
Treasury  Department. 

Following  the  successful  execution 
of  this  work,  it  was  determined  that 
an  effort  should  be  made  to  per- 
form, under  official  supervision,  the 
entire  mechanical  work  upon  United 
States  securities,  and  authority 
therefor  was  granted  by  the  act  of 
July  11,  1862,  which  authorized  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  case 
he  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  procure 
such  notes  by  contract,  to  cause  them 
to  be  engraved,  printed  and  executed 
at  the  Treasury  Department,  and  as 
prior  to  the  passage  of  this  act  none 
of  the  public  securities  had  been  en- 
graved or  printed  otherwise  than  by 
private  contract,  this  act  may  be  re- 


garded as  the  organic  act  of  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing. 

From  time  to  time  following  this 
date  the  work  done  by  private  com- 
panies was  gradually  absorbed  by 
the  bureau  until  all  of  the  printing 
of  the  securities  of  the  Government 
was  done  at  that  bureau,  and  the  last 
work  taken  over  by  it  from  private 
contractors  was  the  printing  of  the 
postage  stamps  which  the  bureau 
undertook  in  1894. 

The  bureau  is  the  Government  fac- 
tory for  producing  its  paper  money, 
bonds,  revenue,  postage  and  custom 
stamps,  checks,  drafts  and  all  im- 
portant documents  printed  from  en- 
graved plates.  The  output  in  the 
fiscal  year  just  ended,  June  30,  1916, 
had  a  value  of  approximately  3% 
billions  of  dollars. 

Putting  it. in  a  more  concrete  form, 
the  daily  output  of  United  States 
notes,  gold  and  silver  certificates  and 
National  bank  notes,  is  two  and  one- 
quarter  million  notes,  having  a  face 
value  of  nine  million  dollars,  and 
weighing  over  three  and  one-half 
tons.  If  laid  out  flat  they  would 
cover  nine  acres,  and  if  placed  end 
to  end  the  daily  output  would  make 
a  chain  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long. 

Each  day  forty  million  postage 
stamps  are  manufactured,  which 
would  cover  approximately  seven 
acres,  or  make  a  chain  of  stamps 
six  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long. 
The  value  of  each  day's  output  is 
nearly  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.  Six  hundred  em- 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Int. 


300 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ployees  are  engaged  in  their  manu- 
facture. Fifty-one  different  kinds  of 
postage  stamps  in  denominations 
from  one  cent  to  five  dollars  are 
made  for  the  United  States  and  its 
insular  possessions.  They  are  print- 
ed in  fifteen  distinctive  colors. 

Another  important  part  of  the  Bu- 
reau's work  is  internal  revenue 
stamps,  through  which  an  annual  in- 
come of  over  five  hundred  million 
dollars  is  collected  for  Uncle  Sam. 
These  stamps  are  of  larger  sizes 
than  postage  stamps  and  while  the 
daily  output  is  only  twenty  million 
stamps,  they  would  cover  twenty 
acres  if  spread  out  in  single  sheets 
and  weigh  six  and  one-half  tons. 
More  than  three  hundred  different 
varieties  are  issued. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  such 
enormous  quantities  of  securities  are 
produced  year  after  year  at  this  es- 
tablishment without  the  loss  of  one 
cent  to  the  Government,  and  is  a 
testimonial  to  the  integrity  and  abil- 
ity of  the  employees,  not  one  of 
whom  is  bonded,  as  well  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  system  under  which 
they  operate.  Be  it  further  said  to 
the  credit  of  these  employees  that 
not  one  has  ever  engaged  in  the 
counterfeiting  of  the  securities  man- 
ufactured by  this  bureau. 

The  bureau  employs  the  most  ex- 
pert designers,  engravers,  plate 
printers  and  other  artisans  requisite 
to  a  large  plate  printing  establish- 
ment, several  of  whom  entered  its 
service  during  the  Civil  War  shortly 
after  the  bureau  was  organized,  and 
who  are  capably  occupying  positions 
of  trust  and  responsibility. 

The  number  of  employees  in  the 
bureau  engaged  in  the  making  of 
paper  money  is  2,800;  in  making 
postage  stamps,  600 ;  in  making  rev- 
enue stamps,  600,  and  about  100  in 
making  bonds,  checks,  commissions 
and  various  other  classes  of  work ; 
the  total  number  of  employees  be- 
ing 4,100;  2,200  of  whom  are  fe- 
males. The  maximum  and  minimum 
salaries  of  males  is  $6,600  and  $320, 
respectively,  per  annum,  and  of  fe- 


males, $2,100  and  $300,  respectively, 
per  annum. 

An  idea  of  the  business  growth  of 
the  United  States  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  fact  that  the  Government 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing 
delivered  11,771,283,150  perfect  pos- 
tage stamps  during  the  fiscal  year 
1916.  The  paper  required  for  this 
work  amounted  to  1,100,000  pounds, 
and  to  make  this  paper  4,500  large 
pine  trees  were  ground  to  a  pulp. 

Had  these  trees  been  converted 
into  lumber,  85  well-appointed  bung- 
alows could  have  been  built.  The 
paper  itself  would  make  an  edition 
of  3,500,000  twelve-page  seven-col- 
umn newspapers.  As  the  stamps 
were  printed  from  intaglio-engraved 
plates  in  which  the  entire  surface 
is  covered  with  ink  and  wiped  with 
a  cloth  that  leaves  the  ink  only  in 
the  engraved  lines,  the  amount  of 
ink  required  was  625,000  pounds. 
But  only  10  per  cent  of  this  was 
actually  applied  to  the  stamps,  the 
balance  being  wiped  off.  ,  The  gum 
on  the  back  of  the  stamps  is  made 
by  scientifically  roasting  the  highest 
grade  of  tapioca  flour,  such  as  is 
used  for  making  pudding,  and  as 
350,000  pounds  were  used,  all  of  the 
inhabitants  of  a  large  city  would 
have  been  given  their  fill  of  tapioca 
pudding  for  one  meal  with  the  ma- 
terial used. 

The  sheets  of  one  hundred  stamps 
each,  as  sent  to  the  post  offices, 
piled  upon  each  other,  would  make 
a  shaft  over  six  and  three-fifths 
miles  high,  and  placed  end  to  end 
would  make  a  strip  16,500  miles  long, 
and  as  there  are  ten  rows  of  stamps 
in  each  sheet,  a  strip  of  single 
stamps  would  be  165,000  miles  long, 
and  would  girdle  the  earth  six  times, 
with  something  over. 

The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing  prints  all  of  the  securities 
of  the  United  States  Government, 
which  embraces  checks,  drafts, 
bonds,  paper  money,  revenue,  cus- 
toms, parcel  post  and  postage  stamps 
and  certificates  of  deposit  for  the 
Post  Office  Department. 


302 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


It  has  been  our  constant  endeavor 
not  only  to  safeguard  our  stamps 
and  circumvent  their  counterfeiting, 
but  to  make  them  really  artistic. 
When  you  comprehend  the  small 
space  allowed  for  artistic  embellish- 
ment, you  necessarily  must  marvel 
at  the  results  we  obtain. 

The  engraving  division  is  the  cor- 
nerstone of  the  bureau  and  the  bul- 
wark of  our  securities.  In  this  divi- 
sion every  form  of  security  has 
its  origin,  and  the  most  artistic 
and  skilled  engravers  that  the  world 
produces  are  employed  here. 

Steel  engraving  is  the  perfection 
of  art  as  applied  to  securities;  it 
differs  from  painting  and  sculptur- 
ing, inasmuch  as  the  engraver  who 
carves  his  work  on  steel  plates  must 
deliberately  study  the  effect  of  each 
infinitesimal  Mine.  Free  hand  with 
a  diamond-pointed  tool,  known  as  a 
graver,  aided  by  a  powerful  magni- 
fying glass,  he  carves  away,  con- 
scious that  one  false, cut  or  slip  of 
his  tool  or  miscalculation  of  depth 
or  width  of  line  will  destroy  the 
artistic  merit  of  his  creation,  and 
weeks  or  months  of  labor  will  have 
been  in  vain.  In  no  other  form  of 
printing  can  the  beautiful,  soft,  and 
yet  strong  effects  in  black  and  white 
be  obtained  as  in  steel  engraving. 
The  introduction  of  cheap  mechani- 
cal process  work  has  superseded  the 
beautiful  creations  of  our  master  en- 
graver commercially,  and  now  we 
find  the  art  limited  to  the  engrav- 
ing of  securities  as  applied  in  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing. 

The  work  in  this  division  is  clas- 
sified and  divided  so  that  the  en- 
gravers become  specially  skilled  in 
some  particular  branch  of  the  art. 
For  instance,  they  are  classified  as 
portrait,  script,  square  letter  and 
ornamental  engravers.  Each  is  con- 
fined to  his  own  specialty,  and  thus 
becomes  unusually  expert,  the  result 
being  that  not  only  better  work  is 
secured,  but  a  greater  amount  is 
turned  out  in  a  given  time,  and  what 
*"j  of  greater  importance,  increased 
security  is  obtained.  The  individual 


excellencies  and  characteristics  of  a 
number  of  men  are  impressed  upon 
every  stamp  issued.  Therefore,  it 
would  be  as  difficult  for  one  en- 
graver to  make  a  perfect  reproduc- 
tion of  a  Government  plate  as  it 
would  be  for  the  reader  to  reproduce 
an  absolute  facsimile  of  his  or  her 
own  signature,  and,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  no  one  has  yet  accom- 
plished this  feat. 

To  the  credit  of  the  engravers  and 
employees  of  this  division,  it  should 
be  stated  that  in  the  history  of  the 
bureau  none  of  its  employees  has 
ever  engaged  in  counterfeiting. 

When  it  is  determined  to  issue  a 
new  stamp,  the  matter  is  discussed 
by  the  officials  having  in  charge  the 
several  branches  of  the  service  in- 
volved, and  the  conclusions  reached 
are  embodied  in  a  model  made  by  a 
trained  designer,  which  is  submitted 
for  the  criticisms  of  the  officers  who 
discussed  the  matter  in  the  first 
place.  The  model  is  then  modified 
in  accordance  with  the  >  criticisms, 
and  is  finally  approved  by  the  Post- 
master General. 

The  approved  design  is  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  engravers  who  cut 
it  upon  a  small  piece  of  annealed 
steel.  After  the  approval  of  a  proof 
of  this  engraving,  the  piece  of  steel 
is  heated  red  hot  in  cyanide  of  potas- 
sium and  hardened  by  suddenly  dip- 
ping it  into  oil  and  Water.  This 
single  engraved  subject  is  duplicated 
four  hundred  times  upon  the  larger 
plates  that  the  stamps  are  printed 
from,  by  means  of  the  transfer 
process. 

This  is  a  method  of  reproducing 
engraving  devised  many  years  ago 
by  Jacob  Perkins,  an  inventive 
American,  who  may  be  considered 
the  father  of  the  present  method  of 
duplicating  bank  note  and  stamp 
plates.  It  consists  of  making  a  re- 
versed duplicate  or  mold  of  the  orig- 
inal engraving  by  rolling  a  soft,  an- 
nealed steel  roll  upon  it  in  the  trans- 
fer press.  Being  accurately  guided 
and  held  by  the  mechanism  of  this 
press,  continued  rolling  under  high 


304 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


pressure  forces  the  soft  steel  of  the 
roll  into  the  engraved  lines  of  the 
original  design,  and  forms  an  exact 
counterpart,  in  relief,  of  it.  This 
roll,  being  hardened,  is  used  to  dup- 
licate the  engraving  by  the  same 
process,  upon  a  soft  steel  plate, 
which  it  will  do  a  great  number  of 
times  before  wearing  out,  reserving 
the  original  engraving,  or  die  as  it 
is  called,  for  making  additional  rolls. 
The  original  engraving  is  never 
printed  from  except  to  make  what 
are  known  as  die-proofs. 

The  paper,  being  printed  wet, 
Contracts  on  drying,  and  the  mathe- 
matically correct  layout  of  the  en- 
graved plate  bears  only  an  approxi- 
mate relation  to  the  desired  printed 
sheet.  The  paper  we  print  to-day 
will  vary  in  shrinkage  from  that  we 
print  to-morrow.  As  the  physical 
properties  of  the  tree  govern  the  ex- 
pansion and  contraction  of  the  paper 
made  therefrom,  no  two  sheets  are 
exactly  the  same  size.  The  actual 
difference  in  size  of  the  individual 
stamp  is  too  minute  to  be  readily 
discernible,  but  becomes  a  serious 
factor  when  the  row  is  twenty 
stamps  long  as  we  now  print  the 
sheets. 

But  that  is  not  all.  To  smooth 
the  paper  for  the  operation  of  gum- 
ming, it  is  subjected  to  500  tons 
pressure  in  a  hydraulic  press,  and 
if  very  dry,  it  stretches  but  little, 
but  if  the  day  is  damp  and  humid 
it  stretches  perceptibly.  The  con- 
traction of  the  gum  itself  is  a  fac- 
tor, and  the  atmospheric  conditions 
still  another.  Our  perforating  ma- 
chines have  not  human  intelligence, 
and  they  blindly  perforate  the  sheets 
alike  until  their  adjustment  is 
changed.  Therefore,  the  best  we 
can  do  is  to  average  the  adjustment 
and  it  is  only  by  chance  that  all  the 
perforations  are  exactly  central.  Of 
course,  it  will  be  understood  that 
typographic  printing,  being  done  on 
dry  paper,  eliminates  many  of  these 
problems,  and  no  great  feat  is  per- 
formed in  perfectly  centering  the 
perforations  on  a  dry  printed  stamp. 


The  present  method  of  printing 
stamps  is  accomplished  upon  what  is 
known  as  the  "four  plate  power 
press."  Four  plates  are  used  in  or- 
der that  the  operation  of  inking, 
wiping,  polishing  and  taking  the  im- 
pressions may  be  done  simultaneous- 
ly. This  press  requires  the  service 
of  a  printer  to  polish  the  plates,  one 
girl  to  lay  the  sheet  in  position  and 
another  girl  to  take  it  off  after 
printing. 

After  each  two  hundred  sheets  are 
printed,  they  are  counted  and  dried. 
To  secure  a  flat  surface  for  subse- 
quent operations,  they  are  pressed 
in  a  hydraulic  press. 

They  are  next  gummed  by  passing 
beneath  a  glass  roller  which  is  bath- 
ed in  a  solution  of  dextrine  (which 
forms  the  gum),  and  the  sheets  are 
then  carried  by  grippers  through  a 
drying  chamber  in  which  the  gum 
is  dried  in  less  than  thirty  seconds. 
Just  before  leaving  the  gumming 
machine,  the  sheets  are  carried 
through  a  device  that  breaks  the 
gum  into  innumerable  cracks  and 
materially  prevents  subsequent  curl- 
ing. 

The  printed  and  gummed  sheets  of 
400  stamps  are  now  fed  through  a 
rotary  perforator  that  perforates  the 
stamps  in  one  direction  and  cuts 
the  sheets  in  half.  Another  perfora- 
tor of  the  same  construction  perfor- 
ates the  stamps  crosswise  and  makes 
another  cut,  thereby  quartering  the 
original  sheets. 

After  a  close  and  rigid  inspection, 
these  sheets  are  counted  and  made 
into  packages  for  final  packing  for 
shipment  to  the  post  offices. 

The  new  building  for  the  use  of 
the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Print- 
ing has  been  occupied  since  early 
in  the  spring  of  1914.  This  building 
is  the  most  modern  type  of  factory 
building  in  the  United  States.  While 
the  exterior  of  the  building  is  clas- 
sic and  monumental  in  style,  the 
wings,  which  are  utilized  for  factory 
purposes,  are  constructed  along  mod- 
ern factory  lines. 

The    building    is   about   505    feet 


g 


.i*' 


Putting   on   the   Seal   and   Numbering  The    Ink   Milk 

Sizing  the  Bills  The  Final  Step;  Sealing  and  Numbering 

THE  PAPER  COMES  OUT  MONEY 


UNCLE    SAM'S    MONEY 


307 


long,  fronting  on  Fifteenth  Street, 
with  a  depth  of  about  296  feet  and 
a  height  of  105  feet.  It  has  a  base- 
ment, four  stories  and  attic,  and  is 
in  the  form  of  the  letter  "E,"  but 
with  four  wings  instead  of  three, 
making  three  open  end  courts,  two 
of  which  are  approximately  230  feet 
long  to  the  end  of  the  wing.  The 
two  inner  wings,  to  allow  space  for 
the  driveways,  are  about  30  feet 
shorter. 

There  is  a  mezzanine  gallery  on 
each  floor,  having  a  total  length  of 
about  1,800  feet  on  all  floors  where 


installed,  which  is  used  by  the  pub- 
lic for  viewing  the  more  interesting 
operations  of  the  bureau,  and  this 
may  be  done  without  the  possibility 
of  any  loss  of  a  security  or  inter- 
ference with  the  workmen. 

None  of  the  employees  are  permit- 
ted to  leave  the  building  during  the 
lunch  hour,  as  each  individual  em- 
ployee is  held  accountable  for  the 
securities  which  he  or  she  is  hand- 
ling during  the  working  hours,  and 
to  permit  them  to  leave  the  building 
would  necessitate  a  check  or  count, 
which  would  be  too  expensive. 


Photo   Harris   &   Ewing 
HAND     VS,     MACHINE     COUNTING 


PART  III. 
UNITED  STATES  ASSAY  OFFICE  AT  NEW  YORK 

By  Hon.  VERNE  M.  BOVIE,  Superintendent 


THE  United  States  Assay  Office 
opened  its  doors  at  30  Wall 
Street  in  1854.  It  occupied  the 
same  historical  building  until  its  age 
made  its  demolishment  necessary  in 
1914.  In  1910  a  new  eight  story 
building  was  built  adjoining  the  old 
in  the  rear,  and  with  an  entrance 
on  Pine  Street.  Since  that  time  its 
operations  have  been  carried  on 
there.  Appropriations  have  now 
been  made  by  Congress  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  building  on  the  site 
of  the  old  Wall  Street  building,  to 
be  joined  to  the  present  Pine  Street 
building,  so  that  for  the  indefinite 
future  the  office  will  continue  its 
service  from  the  same  historic  site 
on  which  it  started. 

From  deposits  of  a  few  thousands 
in  value  in  1854,  the  importance  of 
the  office  has  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  for  the  fiscal  year  1916 
the  aggregate  value  of  the  deposits 
received  and  handled  amounted  to 
the  huge  sum  of  $325,958,585.38.  Of 
this  $321,609,643.73  was  gold  and 
$4,348,941.65  silver.  $253,957,895.26 
was  from  foreign  countries  and  $72,- 
000,690.12  from  the  United  States. 
The  number  of  deposits  made  was 
17,338.  During  the  year  149,867 
assays  were  made. 

The  Assay  Office  is  the  great  pur- 
chasing, as  well  as  selling,  agent  for 
gold  for  the  Government.  It  is  the 
station  where  the  crude  wealth  pro- 
duced by  our  own  mines,  and  the 
wealth  that  all  the  world  sends  to 
our  shores  in  the  ordinary  activi- 
ties of  commerce,  is  converted  into 


values  of  United  States  dollars  and 
cents. 

We  purchase  gold  in  any  amounts 
from  $100  in  value  up — in  any  form 
suitable  for  mint  purposes  and  from 
any  source.  We  receive  gold  dust 
from  Alaska  and  Dutch  Guiana; 
bullion  from  Mexico,  South  and  Cen- 
tral America ;  gold  and  silver  coins 
from  all  the  countries  of  the  world : 
old  gold  and  silver  jewelry  from 
pawnbrokers  and  jewelers ;  fine  gold 
bars  and  mixed  bullion,  and  light 
weight  and  mutilated  United  States 
coin. 

The  purchase  is  made  at  the  ac- 
tual gold  value  at  the  uniform  rate 
of  $20.67  per  fine  ounce.  Silver  is 
paid  for  in  fine  silver  bars,  which, 
in  turn,  are  marketed  by  the  depos- 
itors at  the  current  price  in  the 
open  market. 

The  process  by  which  the  crude 
bullion  is  turned  into  fine  metal  is 
itself  an  interesting  one.  The  office 
is  divided  into  four  general  depart- 
ments:  the  Deposit  and  Weigh 
Room,  where  the  metal  is  first  re- 
ceived, weighed  and  melted ;  the 
Assay  Department,  where  its  value 
and  fineness  are  determined ;  the 
Melting  and  Refining  Department, 
where  it  is  refined  and  cast  into  fine 
bars ;  the  Clerical  Force,  where  the 
calculations  are  made  and  final  pay- 
ments provided  for. 

Immediately  upon  its  receipt  the 
deposit  is  weighed  and  at  once  sent 
to  the  Deposit  Melting  Room,  where 
it  is  melted  and  thoroughly  mixed 
and  cast  into  bars.  From  the  liquid 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


310 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


metal  samples  are  taken  during  this 
melting  from  which  the  assays  are 
made.  These  determine  the  propor- 
tions and  fineness  of  the  gold  and 
silver  contents.  The  melted  deposit 
is  again  weighed  in  the  Deposit 
Weigh  Room,  its  values  determined 
by  the  assays  made  from  the  sam- 
ples previously  taken,  and  payment 
made  by  check  by  the  Superintend- 
ent drawn  on  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States.  The  bar  of  mixed 
gold  and  silver  is  then  turned  over 
by  the  head  of  the  Deposit  Weigh 
Room  to  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Melting  and  Refining  Department. 
Here  it  is  again  melted  and  cast 
into  thin  slabs  or  anodes  about  18 
inches  long  and  14  inch  thick  of 
about  the  composition  of  two  thirds 
silver  and  one  third  gold.  These 
anodes  are  put  in  a  muslin  bag  and 
are  hung  in  a  solution  of  silver 
nitrate  and  free  nitric  acid  opposite 
a  strip  of  pure  silver  called  the 
silver  cathode.  Electric  current  is 
passed  through  and  the  silver  passes 
from  the  anode  to  the  cathode  in 
pure  silver  crystals.  It  is  scraped 
off  into  huge  earthen  jars  and  then 
taken  to  the  melting  room  and  cast 
into  its  final  form  of  fine  silver  bars. 
The  residue  remaining  in  the  mus- 
lin bag  is  taken  out,  washed  and  in 
turn  melted  and  cast  into  smaller 
anodes,  or  slabs,  which  in  turn  are 
taken  to  the  gold  refining  room  and 
by  a  similar  electrolytic  process  the 
fine  gold  extracted.  The  gold  is 
then  in  the  form  of  a  warty,  irregu- 
lar slab  of  gold.  This  in  turn  is 


melted  and  cast  into  fine  bars  ready 
for  the  vaults  or  for  trade  purposes. 

During  the  refining  process  the 
base  metals  and  by-products  are 
taken  into  solution  and  are  later 
precipitated  by  chemical  reaction 
and  recovered. 

When  it  is  realized  that  the  ordi- 
nary deposit  in  its  course  through 
the  office  is  melted  five  times;  that 
not  less  than  five  and  often  seven 
or  more  assays  are  made  of  it ;  that 
each  bar  is  stamped  with  five  sep- 
arate stamps;  that  it  must  be  con- 
stantly weighed  and  re-weighed  and 
checked  and  re-checked;  some  con- 
ception may  be  had  of  the  care  and 
attention  to  detail  required  in  the 
office. 

Experimental  work,  looking  to  the 
discovery  of  better  and  more  efficient 
methods,  is  being  constantly  carried 
on.  The  office  uses  the  most  perfect 
appliances  obtainable  for  its  work 
and  seeks  constantly  to  increase  the 
efficiency  and  perfect  the  products 
of  its  labor. 

With  the  increased  development 
of  the  commerce  of  the  country  and 
the  recent  almost  phenomenal 
growth  of  its  financial  power,  the 
importance  of  the  work  of  the  Assay 
Office,  as  related  to  the  financial  and 
business  world,  constantly  increases. 
It  is  now  the  largest  and  most  com- 
pletely equipped  office  of  its  kind  in 
the  world  and  through  its  doors  is 
destined  to  pass  in  continuing  vol- 
ume the  golden  stream  that  will 
make  the  United  States  the  financial 
master  of  the  world. 


If 

3*1 


I! 


PART  IV. 


HOW  COINS  ARE   MINTED 

By  Hon.  A.  M.  JOYCE,  Superintendent 
U.  S.  Mint,  Philadelphia 


IN  the  operation  of  providing 
coinage  for  the  country  the  Gov- 
ernment purchases  the  gold  bul- 
lion from  anyone  who  offers  it  for 
sale  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  for 
each  23.2  grains  of  pure  gold,  or 
about  $20.67  per  ounce,  and  silver  at 
the  market  quotations  when  request- 
ed. This  bullion,  if  in  an  unrefined 
state,  is  refined  and  separated  from 
all  foreign  matter.  It  is  then  sent 
to  the  mint  and  delivered  to  the 
superintendent  of  the  melting  de- 
partment. Nine  parts  of  pure  gold 
or  silver  are  mixed  with  one  part  of 
copper  (alloy)  and  the  mixture 
melted  in  crucibles  placed  in  the  gas 
furnaces.  It  is  then  poured  into 
molds  and  produces  ingots  about  12 
inches  long,  1%  inches  thick,  and 
from  1  to  2  inches  wide,  depending 
upon  the  denomination  to  be  made. 

Granulations  of  these  ingots  or 
melts  are  taken  and  sent  to  the  assay- 
ing department  and  assayed  for  their 
fineness.  If  found  correct,  the  ingot  is 
stamped  with  the  number  and  fine- 
ness of  the  melt;  if  not  correct,  it 
is  condemned  and  remelted.  This 
then  places  the  responsibility  for  the 
legal  fineness  of  every  coin  upon  the 
assayer.  The  ingots  passed  by  the 
assayer  as  correct  are  then  delivered 
to  the  superintendent  of  the  coining 
department. 

The  superintendent  of  the  coining 
department  upon  receiving  the  in- 
gots from  the  superintendent  of  the 
melting  department  passes  them 
cold,  through  ten-inch  hardened 


steel  rolls,  eighteen  or  twenty  times, 
depending  upon  the  denomination, 
each  driven  by  a  fifty  horse-power 
electric  motor,  each  draft  reducing 
the  thickness,  and  adding  to  the 
length  of  the  strip  until  the  last 
draft  leaves  it  of  such  a  thickness 
that  a  coin  of  the  desired  denomi- 
nation cut  from  it  will  weigh  as 
nearly  the  right  weight  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  roll.  After  rolling  the  ingot 
to  the  required  thickness  of  the  coin, 
or  denomination  required,  it  is  put 
through  the  cutting  machine  where 
the  blank,  or  planchet,  is  punched 
out,  leaving  the  clippings  to  be  re- 
turned to  the  melting  room,  there 
to  be  re-melted  and  returned  to  in- 
gots. 

The  blanks  are  then  sent  to  the 
selecting  tables,  where  women  desig- 
nated as  selectors  examine  the 
blanks  and  pick  out  all  imperfect 
pieces  or  cuts,  known  as  "chips." 

The  gold  planchets  or  blanks  are 
then  sent  to  the  weighing  room, 
where  they  are  passed  through  the 
automatic  weighing  machines. 

In  practice  it  is  impossible  to  cut 
all  the  gold  planchets  so  that  they 
will  each  weigh  precisely  the  stand- 
ard weight,  therefore,  the  law  per- 
mits a  tolerance  or  variation  of  the 
weight  from  standard  of  one-half 
grain  on  double-eagles  and  eagles, 
and  one-quarter  grain  on  half  and 
quarter-eagles. 

The  machines,  known  as  automatic 
weighing  machines,  then  weigh  each 
of  the  planchets  separately,  and 


Copyright  by   Munn   &  Co.,   Inc. 


314 


OUR    COUNTR1    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


those  found  one-half  grain  above 
standard  are  deposited  in  a  separate 
box,  and  marked  "heavies,"  and 
those  found  standard  and  one-half 
grain  light  are  placed  in  a  separate 
box  and  marked  "lights."  The 
"heavies"  that  are  found  above  the 
limit  of  tolerance  are  passed  through 
a  machine  known  as  the  shaving 
machine  arid  reduced  to  within  the 
limit  of  tolerance,  one-half  or  one- 
quarter  grain,  depending  on  the  de- 
nomination, to  good  "heavies"  one- 
half  and  one-quarter  grain  above 
standard.  Those  that  are  found  too 
light  are  condemned  and  go  back 
to  the  melting  pot.  After  coinage, 
all  coins  are  again  re-weighed.  At 
this  stage  the  metal,  after  going 
through  the  various  operations,  is 
very  hard,  and,  before  it  can  be 
stamped,  it  is  necessary  to  anneal  or 
soften  the  same,  otherwise  it  would 
be  very  destructive  to  the  dies  when 
the  piece  is  being  struck  on  the 
coining  presses.  The  blanks  are 
placed  in  a  gas  annealing  furnace, 
where  they  remain  in  the  retort  un- 
til they  become  a  "cherry  red,"  when 
they  are  dropped  from  the  furnace 
into  water  to  keep  them  from  oxi- 
dizing. After  coming  out  of  the  wa- 
ter they  are  cleaned  in  a  weak  acid 
solution  and  dried  out  in  centrifugal 
machines.  They  are  then  sent  to  the 
milling  or  upsetting  machines, 
where  the  edge  is  turned  up  on  the 
blank.  The  blanks  are  now  bright 
and  soft  and  ready  for  stamping  or 
coining.  In  the  coining  room  they 
are  fed  into  the  coining  presses  by 
automatic  feeders,  and  the  automatic 
fingers  on  the  presses  take  one  piece 
at  a  time  from  the  bottom  of  the 
tube  attached  to  the  automatic  feed- 
er and  place  it  between  the  dies,  at 
the  same  time  pushing  the  finished 
piece  out  and  dropping  it  in  a 
screened  box  at  the  side  of  the  press. 
The  upper  and  lower  die  being  re- 
spectively the  obverse  and  reverse 
sides  of  the  coin,  in  this  position 
it  drops  automatically  into  a  collar 
which  is  internally  engraved  to  con- 
form to  the  edge  of  the  coin,  known 


as  the  reeding;  at  that  instant  the 
dies  approach  each  other  under  a 
pressure  of  one  hundred  tons  to  the 
square  inch,  and  the  planchet  is 
pressed  so  that  the  metal  is  driven 
into  every  corner  and  crevice  of  the 
engraved  die,  and  at  the  same  time 
outward  into  the  engraving  on  the 
interior  of  the  collar  producing  the 
reeding  or  rough  edge.  This  enor- 
mous pressure  is  regulated  by  ad- 
justing screws,  which  determine  just 
how  close  together  the  two  dies,  up- 
per and  lower,  will  be  brought  to 
each  other,  and  this  adjustment  is 
made  so  they  shall  come  just  close 
enough  together  to  bring  out  every 
detail  of  the  engraving. 

This  coinage  operation  proceeds 
at  the  rate  of  from  90  to  120  pieces 
coined  per  minute,  on  one  press,  the 
speed  of  operation  being  adjusted 
according  to  the  size  of  the  press. 
There  are  in  the  Mint  at  Phila- 
delphia twenty-four  coining  presses 
of  three  different  sizes. 

After  stamping,  each  coin  is  sep- 
arately inspected  and  weighed.  Six 
automatic  inspecting  machines  are 
in  use.  Each  machine  is  operated 
by  two  women  who  have  a  view  of 
each  side  of  the  coin  as  it  passes 
through  the  machine.  The  weighing 
is  done  on  the  automatic  scales.  The 
law  permits  a  variation  of  one-half 
grain  on  double-eagles  and  eagles, 
and  one-quarter  of  a  grain  on  half 
and  quarter-eagles,  and  one  and  a 
half  grains  on  all  silver  coins,  from 
the  standard  weight.  The  pieces 
that  weigh  above  or  below  the  stand- 
ard mark  are  kept  separate.  The 
condemned  are  rolled  out  and  sent 
back  to  the  melting  pot.  Owing  to  the 
greater  tolerance  (one  and  a  half 
grains)  on  silver  the  blanks  are 
rolled  close  enough  to  eliminate  all 
weighing,  but  after  coinage  the 
pieces  are  weighed  the  same  as  gold. 

After  weighing  and  separating  the 
coin  is  counted  by  weight  and  placed 
in  sacks ;  the  gold  in  $5,000.00  pack- 
ages and  the  silver  in  $1,000.00  pack- 
ages, and  delivered  to  the  superin- 
tendent, who  places  it  in  vaults  sub- 


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316 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ject  to  orders  from  the  Treasurer, 
Assistant  Treasurers  and  banks.  All 
metals  are  delivered  to  the  superin- 
tendent by  weight  as  well  as  value. 
Gold  and  silver  coin  and  bullion  are 
received  and  delivered  at  1,000  fine 
ounces  and  minor  metals  and  coin 
at  troy  ounces.  At  the  end  of  the 
fiscal  year,  i.  e.,  June  30th,  the  total 
weight  of  all  the  ingots  delivered 
to  the  coining  department  by  the 
superintendent  during  the  year 
stands  charged  against  said  depart- 
ment and  the  total  weight  of  all  the 
good  coin,  condemned  coin,  clippings, 
sweeps,  etc.,  that  have  been  deliv- 
ered back  by  the  coining  department 
to  the  superintendent  are  placed  to 
the  credit  of  the  coining  department. 
Theoretically,  this  is  supposed  to 
balance,  but  if  it  does  not  the  super- 
intendent of  the  coining  department 
will  be  held  responsible  for  the  short- 
age. However,  in  practice,  the  law- 
recognizes  the  utter  impossibility  of 
putting  such  an  enormous  quantity 
of  metal  through  all  the  different 
operations  without  a  certain  amount 
of  loss  or  wastage,  and  this  legal 
allowance  on  gold  is  1/2000  part,  or 
for  every  2,000  ounces  operated  upon 
one  ounce  may  be  lost  in  wastage 
before  the  coining  department  is 
held  responsible.  On  the  same 
amount  in  silver  the  legal  allowance 
would  be  two  ounces. 

The  actual  wastage  in  the  coining 
department  under  the  new  system  of 
cleaning  does  not  average  more  than 
five  per  cent  of  the  legal  allowance 
in  gold  and  ten  per  cent  in  silver. 
During  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
30,  1913,  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia 
coined  $19,678,227.50  in  gold  and  the 
loss  or  wastage  on  this  amount  was 
14.289  ounces,  of  the  value  of  $284.12, 
and  $1,936,199.75  in  silver  coin  on 
which  there  was  a  loss  or  wastage 
of  22.05  ounces,  of  the  value  of 
$12.24,  or  a  total  value  of  $296.36 
in  gold  and  silver.  This  loss  covers 
the  workings  of  an  entire  year  of 
$21,614,427.25.  The  legal  percentage 
of  wastage  to  the  amount  operated 
upon  was  gold,  1.37,  and  silver,  1.84. 


The  precautions  to  guard  against 
any  possible  loss  by  carelessness  on 
the  part  of  the  employees  during 
the  process  of  manufacture  are 
about  as  near  perfect  as  human  in- 
genuity can  devise.  At  the  opening 
of  the  day,  the  metal  is  weighed  and 
charged  to  the  various  departments 
and  a  settlement  of  the  same  is  made 
each  day  before  the  close  of  work. 
In  the  morning  the  entire  weight  of 
the  metal  that  stands  charged  to  the 
coining  department  on  the  superin- 
tendent's books  constitutes  the  coin- 
ing department's  opening  balance. 
Every  ounce  of  metal  that  is  dis- 
tributed among  the  various  depart- 
ments is  charged  to  that  department, 
and  at  the  close  of  business  for  the 
day  is  weighed,  and,  if  found  cor- 
rect, the  account  with  the  various 
departments  is  closed  and  the  metal 
locked  in  the  vaults.  A  detailed 
statement  of  the  workings  of  each 
department,  showing  the  amount 
operated  upon,  finished  and  unfin- 
ished, together  with  loss  and  wast- 
age, is  sent  to  the  office  of  the  super- 
intendent of  the  coining  department, 
where  a  tabulated  record  is  kept 
from  day  to  day.  It  shows  by  the 
size  of  the  operation  if  the  loss  ex- 
ceeds the  legitimate  loss  in  any  one 
department  by  even  less  than  one 
piece.  If  the  loss  is  excessive,  then 
the  employees  in  that  department 
are  kept  until  the  shortage  is  ac- 
counted for,  or  the  error  in  calcula- 
tion discovered.  It  generally  hap- 
pens to  be  an  error  in  figures,  or  a 
coin  or  box  of  coin  had  been  over- 
looked. On  the  whole  it  is  rare  for 
the  question  to  arise.  Once  in  a 
while  in  an  extraordinarily  large  op- 
eration there  might  be  a  legitimate 
loss  equal  to  the  weight  of  a  single 
piece  in  excess  of  the  estimate  of 
what  the  loss  should  be,  and  this 
would  remain  unaccounted  for  ex- 
cept as  legitimate  loss.  It  would  be 
out  of  the  question  for  any  consider- 
able theft  to  be  committed  or  even 
to  conduct  a  systematic  pilfering  on 
a  small  scale  without  the  culprit  be- 
ing discovered  in  a  short  time.  The 


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318 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


daily  record  of  the  day's  workings 
kept  in  the  superintendent  of  the 
coining  department's  office  shows  the 
loss  or  wastage  on  every  operation. 

The  scales  used  for  the  weighing 
of  bullion,  coin,  and  metals  will 
weigh  from  1/100  part  of  an  ounce 
up  to  10,000  ounces  at  each  draft. 

When  the  coin  is  finished  and 
counted  it  is  delivered  daily  to  the 
superintendent  in  sacks  containing 
$5,000  in  gold  and  $1,000  in  silver 
An  amounts  that  may  have  been 
coined  the  day  previous.  Out  of 
every  delivery  of  finished  coin  to 
the  superintendent,  there  is  taken  at 
random  by  the  assayer  and  superin- 
tendent one  piece  .for  each  1,000 
pieces  of  gold,  and  one  piece  from 
each  2,000  pieces  of  silver,  which 
are  locked  in  what  is  known  as  the 
"pyx  box,"  the  superintendent  or  his 
representative  holding  the  key  to  one 
combination,  and  the  assayer  the 
key  to  the  other  combination.  Each 
year  in  February  as  assay  commis- 
sion, consisting  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
leading  and  representative  citizens 
from  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
the  Judge  of  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court,  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
rency, and  the  Assayer  of  the  United 
States  Assay  Office  in  New  York, 
are  appointed  by  the  President.  The 
last  named  are  ex-offlcio  members  of 
the  Commission.  He  selects  men 
who  are  expert  chemists,  scale  mak- 
ers, coin  specialists,  financiers,  pro- 
fessors and  lawyers.  They  meet  at 
the  Mint  in  Philadelphia,  organize 
themselves  into  committees  on  count- 
ing, weighing  and  assaying  and 
these  committees  open  the  "pyx  box," 
count,  weigh  and  assay  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  coins  and  report  the  re- 
sult to  the  President.  In  case  any 
of  these  coins  are  found  outside  the 
legal  limit  of  weight  or  fineness,  it 
would  be  sufficient  grounds  for  the 
removal  of  the  operative  officer  or 
officers. 

Prior  to  the  delivery  of  coin  to 
the  superintendent  and  before  the 
assay  pieces  are  taken  out,  the  lat- 
ter, by  the  trial  separately  of  not 


less  than  five  pieces  for  each  1,000 
pieces  embraced  in  the  proposed  de- 
livery, must  satisfy  himself  that  the 
coins  are  within  the  legal  limits  as 
to  the  weight.  If  these  trial  pieces 
.prove  satisfactory  the  delivery  is 
made,  and  if  not  satisfactory  all  the 
coins  are  weighed  separately  and 
such  as  are  not  of  legal  weight  are 
defaced  and  delivered  to  the  super- 
intendent of  the  melting  and  refin- 
ing department.  As  an  additional 
precaution,  from  the  first  and  two 
subsequent  deliveries  in  each  week 
of  gold  and  silver  coins  of  each  de- 
nomination of  coin  delivered  by  the 
coining  department  two  specimen 
pieces  are  taken  at  random,  certified 
and  enclosed  by  the  superintendent 
and  assayer  (in  the  same  manner 
as  above"  prescribed  for  the  Annual 
Assay  Commission),  and  promptly 
forwarded  to  the  director  of  the 
mint  by  registered  mail  for  assay  by 
the  assayer  of  the  Bureau  of  the 
Mint. 

Metals  required  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  minor  coins,  that  is,  five  cent 
nickel  and  one  cent  bronze  pieces, 
are  purchased  by  the  superintendent 
of  the  mint,  with  the  approval  of 
the  director  of  the  mint  as  to  price, 
terms  and  quantity,  after  public  ad- 
vertisement, as  provided  by  law. 
The  metal  so  purchased  is  delivered 
to  the  melting  department  where  it 
is  converted  into  ingots  23  inches 
long,  4%  inches  wide,  and  %  of 
an  inch  thick  of  legal  alloy.  The 
five  cent  piece,  or  nickel,  contains 
75  per  cent  of  copper  and  25  per 
cent  of  nickel,  and  the  one  cent 
bronze  piece  contains  95  per  cent  of 
copper  and  5  per  cent  of  zinc  and 
tin.  These  ingots  are  delivered  to 
the  coining  department,  where  they 
are  passed  through  heavy  sixteen- 
inch  rolls  and  reduced  to  the  thick- 
ness of  the  coin.  About  fifteen 
passes  are  required  to  make  this 
reduction.  Starting  with  the  ingot 
23  inches  long,  the  strip  is  rolled 
fifteen  feet  and  then  cut  in  two. 
Each  of  these  strips  will  be  12  feet 
long  when  finished.  The  strips  are 


UNCLE    SAM'S    MONEY 


319 


then  put  thtuugh  the  cutting  ma- 
chines, where  six  blanks  of  bronze, 
or  five  blanks  of  nickel  are  punched 
out.  These  presses  make  170  revo- 
lutions per  minute  and  in  that  time 
punch  1,020  bronze  blanks,  or  850 
nickel  blanks.  These  blanks  are 
passed  through  rotary  annealing  fur- 
naces in  order  to  make  them  soft 
and  malleable  before  stamping. 
From  the  annealing  furnace  they 
are  placed  in  tumbling  barrels  for 
the  purpose  of  cleaning  and  bright- 
ening, and  rolled  in  a  solution  of 
our  own  devising  for  about  half  an 
hour.  No  acid  is  used.  After  tumb- 
ling, or  rolling  the  blanks  are  thor- 
oughly washed  and  then  dried  in 
centrifugal  machines.  No  sawdust 
is  used  in  this  operation.  The  blanks 
are  selected  and  milled.  The  fin- 
ished blanks,  or  planchets  are  taken 
to  the  coining  room,  where  they  are 
stamped  and  inspected,  after  which 
they  are  counted  and  placed  in 
sacks.  The  nickel  sacks  hold  $50 
and  the  bronze  $10.  They  are  now 
ready  for  delivery.  No  pyx  or 
special  assay  coins  are  taken  from 
the  minor  coin.  The  tolerance  on 
these  pieces  being  much  greater  than 
on  gold  and  silver,  no  adjusting  is 
required. 

A  separate  plant  for  the  minor 
coinage,  remote  from  that  used  in 
the  coining  of  precious  metals,  has 
recently  been  fitted  up  in  another 
part  of  the  building.  This  plant  is 
equipped  with  heavy  machinery,  and 
is  capable  of  turning  out  a  greater 
percentage  of  coin  at  less  expense. 

A  separate  plant  also  adjoins  the 
minor  coinage  plant.  It  is  known 
as  the  medal  room.  It  is  equipped 
with  four  of  the  latest  improved  hy- 
draulic presses  and  other  suitable 
machinery  and  appliances  for  the 
manufacture  of  medals  and  proof 
coin.  Here  are  made  gold,  silver 
and  bronze  medals  for  the  Govern- 
ment and  private  partiel?.  Gold  and 
silver  medals  are  made  from  fine 
gold  and  silver. 

All  dies  used  in  this  and  the  other 
United  States  mints  are  made  in 


the  engraving  department  of  this 
mint.  All  dated  dies  and  all  other 
coinage  dies  which  have  been  in  use 
are  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  cal- 
endar year.  The  engraver  is  the 
custodian  of  all  dies. 

The  operative  officers  in  their  ac- 
counts with  the  superintendent  are 
charged  and  credited  with  deliveries 
of  bullion  or  coin  by  weight  and  the 
account  kept  in  fine  ounces.  Troy 
weights  are  used,  while  metric 
weights  are  by  law  assigned  to  the 
half,  quarter  dollar,  and  dime, 
15.432  grains  being  considered  as 
the  equivalent  of  a  gramme. 

The  average  cost  for  minting  the 
different  denominations,  as  shown 
by  the  cost  report  for  the  fiscal  year 
ended  June  30,  1913,  is  as  follows: 

Per  M 

?ieces. 
37.42 

Eagles    13.13 

Half-eagles    11.50 

Quarter-eagles    10.24 

Half-dollars    8.17 

Quarter-dollars     6.80 

Dimes    2.09 

5-cent    nickels 2.85 

1-cent  bronze 1.48 

The  above  figures  include  the  cost 
of  ingot  assays,  ingot  melting,  the 
entire  coining  department  and  all  of 
the  superintendent's  department  net 
expenditures. 

During  the  year  all  sweeps,  rags 
used  in  cleaning  machinery,  wash 
water,  etc.,  are  gathered  and  placed 
in  a  large  iron  vessel,  the  water 
evaporated  and  the  residue  burnt. 
After  being  dried  the  residue  is  taken 
to  the  sweep  cellar  where  it  is  passed 
through  a  jaw  crusher  which  re- 
duces the  sweeps  to  one  inch  or  less 
in  diameter,  then  through  a  mill 
with  sixty  mesh  screens  which  grinds 
the  sweeps  under  water  until  they 
are  fine  enough  to  pass  through  the 
screen  to  the  two  settling  tanks  and 
a  steam  drier.  The  type  of  mill  is 
a  standard  mining  machine  where 
the  rolls  and  the  pan  remain  sta- 
tionary. It  is  of  sufficient  size  to 
make  it  unnecessary  to  keep  the  mill 
in  continuous  operation  and  thus  the 
men  are  available  in  other  places. 


320 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


LEGAL  WEIGHT  AND  FINENESS  OF  THE  COINS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
THEIR  DIAMETER  AND  THICKNESS 


Denomination 

Legal  Weight 

Fineness 
Thousandths 

Diameter 
Inches 

Thickness 
Inches 

Grains 

Troy  Ozs. 

GOLD: 

Double  eagle 

516 

1.075 

900 

1.350 

0.096 

Eagle 

258 

.5375 

900 

1.060 

.080 

Half  eagle 

129 

.26875 

900 

.848 

.065 

Quarter  eagle 

64.5 

.134375 

900 

.700 

.050 

SILVER: 

Half  dollar 

192.9 

.401875 

900 

1.205 

.082 

Quarter  dollar 

96.45 

.200937 

900 

.955 

.065 

Dime 

38.58 

.080375 

900 

.705 

.051 

MINOR: 

Five  cents 

77.16 

.16075 

75  per  cent  copper 
25  per  cent  nickel 

.835 

.078 

One  cent 

48 

.1 

95  per  cent  copper 

.750 

.058 

5  per  cent  tin  and 

zinc 

The  drier  constantly  agitates  the 
wet  sweeps,  so  that  they  cannot  bake 
on  the  bottom.  One  settling  tank  is 
directly  above  the  other  and  the 
lower  contains  a  steam  syphon  which 
lifts  the  water  to  the  upper.  From 
the  upper  tank  a  connection  leads 
the  water  back  to  the  mill  so  that 
it  may  be  used  over  again.  After 
being  thoroughly  dried  the  sweeps 
are  barreled,  samples  taken  there- 
from and  assayed.  Afterwards  they 
are  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 

During  the  ten  years  ended  June 
30,  1913,  this  mint  coined  $362,824,- 
125.00  in  regular  domestic  gold  coin, 
$60,069.00  in  Lewis  and  Clark  gold 
dollars,  and  $14,953,488.38  in  foreign 
(Mexican)  gold  coin,  $7,041,294.65 
in  foreign  silver  and  minor  coin, 
$41,185,228.95  in  domestic  silver  coin, 
and  $24,477,958.21  in  five  cent  and 
one  cent  pieces,  making  a  total  coin- 
age of  $450,542,164.19,  or  1,547,- 
431,704  pieces.  Upon  this  large  coin- 
age the  wastage  or  loss  was  gold, 
$18,491.93;  silver,  $12,129.15,  and 
five  and  one  cent  pieces  $4,346.22, 
a  total  of  $34,967.30.  The  average 
coinage  per  year  was  $45,049,441.60 
and  the  average  loss  or  wastage  was 
$3,496.73. 

Since  the  elimination  of  acid  for 
cleaning  purposes  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  new  cleaning  method  the 
wastage  has  been  reduced  one-half. 
The  last  three  years  show  a  very 


small  wastage  compared  with  for- 
mer years. 

During  the  last  two  years  the 
coinage  of  gold  and  silver  has  fallen 
off  considerably;  the  former  due  to 
the  passage  of  an  act  authorizing 
the  issuing  of  gold  certificates  on 
gold  bars  instead  of  the  coin  as  here- 
tofore, and  the  latter  owing  to  a 
large  surplus  of  subsidiary  coin  in 
the  vaults  of  the  Treasury  and  sub- 
treasuries.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
demand  for  minor  coins  has  in- 
creased. This,  no  doubt,  was  due 
to  the  change  in  design  of  the  five 
and  one  cent  pieces. 

A  complete  system  of  cost-keeping 
shows  the  cost  of  each  process  in 
coinage  operations  per  ounce  of 
metal  handled,  and  per  dollar  of 
product;  calculations  are  made 
monthly  and  a  statement  of  the  same 
made. 

If  the  seigniorage  on  silver  and 
minor  coin  is  taken  into  considera- 
tion, it  will  show  that  this  mint  is 
the  largest  money  making  institu- 
tion in  the  Government  service.  As, 
for  instance,  a  troy  pound  of  copper 
will  yield  $1.20  and  a  troy  pound 
of  nickel  $3.75.  The  copper  and 
nickel  cost  approximately  15  cents 
per  pound  Tor  the  former  and  38 
cents  for  the  latter.  The  tin  and 
zinc  for  alloying  will  be  added  to 
the  copper.  Silver  can  be  purchased 
for  about  60  cents  per  ounce. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
HOW  UNCLE  SAM  PROTECTS  HIS  REVENUE 

By  A.  H.  PEARSON 


PERSONAL  liberty  in  the  United 
States  is  so  complete  that  we 
scarcely  realize  there  is  a  pow- 
erful central  government  to  watch 
over  our  destinies  and  make  us  com- 
port ourselves  with  proper  regard  for 
the  rights  of  citizens  in  our  neigh- 
boring States.  Frequently,  an  Amer- 
ican's first  real  contact  with  Federal 
power  comes  on  his  return  from  a 
trip  abroad,  when  he  is  advised  that 
he  must  pay  duty  on  goods  that  he 
has  brought  with  him.  He  may  have 
looked  with  contempt  on  the  poor 
foreigner  who  must  submit  to  the 
pettifoggery  of  an  officious  govern- 
ment, and  he  may  be  returning  with 
a  smug  "better-thari-thou"  attitude, 
only  to  receive  a  rude  shock  to  his 
complacency  as  the  customs  officials 


board  the  vessel  and  make  him  swear 
out  a  statement  of  his  dutiable  per- 
sonal effects.  Then,  no  matter  if  he 
does  consider  it  an  invasion  of  his 
rights  as  a  freeborn  American  citi- 
zen, he  must  submit  to  having  his 
trunk  opened,  and  searched  more  or 
less  perfunctorily,  to  make  sure  that 
he  has  not  perjured  himself.  He 
may  even  be  called  aside  to  answer 
searching  questions  about  a  certain 
piece  of  jewelry.  Now,  how  did  Un- 
cle Sam  know  that  he  had  that 
trinket?  For  the  first  time  he  is 
aware  of  a  spy  system,  not  unlike 
that  of  Russia,  which  reaches  out 
beyond  our  shores  to  foreign  lands 
and  keeps  track  of  the  purchases  of 
the  American  tourists.  Despite  the 
humiliation  of  being  treated  as  a 


CUSTOMS  EXAMINATIONS   OF  DRY   GOODS   AT   THE   APPRAISER'S   STORES 
Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Inc. 


322 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ALL  CUBAN  LEAF  TOBACCO  MUST  BE  MINUTELY  EXAMINED 


smuggler,  he  cannot  help  but  feel 
a  great  respect  for  the  omniscience 
of  a  government  whose  existence  he 
barely  realized  up  to  that  moment. 

Although  examination  of  travel- 
ers' baggage  is  the  most  troublesome 
work  that  the  Custom  House  has  to 
deal  with,  it  is  a  paltry  business 
compared  with  the  collection  of  du- 
ties on  general  merchandise.  De- 
spite the  far  greater  attention  to  per- 
sonal baggage,  smuggling  still  con- 
tinues among  tourists,  especially 
those  of  the  gentler  sex,  who  display 


remarkable  ingenuity  in  concealing 
their  dutiable  goods.  One  customs 
official  hopelessly  admitted  that 
"women  are  born  smugglers,  and  we 
cannot  hope  ever  to  suppress  them." 
As  for  general  merchandise,  the 
opportunities  for  smuggling  are  so 
remote,  the  co-operation  between  the 
Government  and  the  importers  them- 
selves is  so  complete,  and  the  pen- 
alty for  smuggling  is  so  severe  as 
compared  with  the  reward  it  offers, 
that  practically  no  goods  enter  the 
country  without  paying  duty.  Take 


STAMPING  BOXES  OF  IMPORTED  CIGARS  AFTER  THEY  HAVE  BEEN  THOROUGHLY 

INSPECTED 


si 

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t>* 


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5° 

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3 

I 

02 

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gs 

rO     O 

II 

""U 


324 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


diamonds,  for  instance,  which  one 
would  suppose  could  very  readily  be 
introduced  into  the  country  because 
their  value  per  size  is  so  enormous. 
Not  only  does  the  Government  keep 
track  of  purchasers  of  diamonds 
abroad,  but  the  dealers  do  as  well, 
and  they  are  constantly  on  the  look- 
out for  smuggled  stones,  realizing 
that  it  is  to  their  own  interest  to 
report  any  stones  introduced  without 
paying  the  required  tariff.  Further- 
more, to  make  it  unprofitable  to 
smuggle  the  stones  into  the  country, 
the  tariff  on  them  was  reduced  sev- 
eral years  ago  from  25  per  cent  to 
10  per  cent. 

Some  idea  of  the  enormous  amount 
of  work  involved  in  keeping  track  of 
the  goods  that  enter  this  country 
may  be  obtained  by  a  visit  to  the 
Appraisers'  Stores  on  the  lower  west 
side  of  New  York.  The  building  is 
ten  stories  high  and  takes  up  an 
entire  block,  while  across  the  street 
is  an  annex  of  no  mean  size.  In 
these  buildings  at  least  10  per  cent 
of  everything  that  comes  into  New 
York  from  foreign  ports  must  be 
examined.  A  sample  of  literally 
everything  under  the  sun  finds  its 
way  at  one  time  or  another  into  the 
Stores,  and  no  matter  what  its  char- 
acter may  be,  whether  a  fifty-karat 
diamond  or  a  penny  doll,  it  must  be 
gravely  considered  and  its  value  ac- 
curately and  scientifically  determ- 
ined, so  that  the  proper  custom  duty 
may  be  levied  thereon.  To  handle 
this  enormous  quantity  of  material 
engages  the  attention  of  938  men,  of 
whom  134  are  examiners.  The  du- 
ties of  the  examiner  are  exceedingly 
difficult.  Each  man  has  a  certain 
classification  assigned  to  him,  and 
he  must  be  prepared  to  determine 
the  wholesale  value  of  any  of  the 
various  articles  that  might  turn  up 
under  that  classification.  He  must 
be  able  to  tell  of  just  what  material 
or  materials  the  article  was  made, 
how  much  the  materials  were  worth 
in  the  market  from  which  they  came, 
and  just  what  was  the  value  of  the 
labor  which  was  expended  upon  it. 


Not  only  that,  but  he  must  know  the 
market  values  of  the  materials  and 
labor  at  the  time  of  shipment.  This 
must  be  determined  on  his  own 
knowledge  and  not  on  the  word  of 
the  shipper.  He  cannot  depend  on 
anyone  else,  but  must  stand  on  his 
own  statement,  which  he  must  be 
ready  to  back  up  with  incontestable 
evidence  in  case  the  importer  carries 
an  appeal  to  a  higher  court.  He 


Weighing    Cotton    Yarn    Inside    an    Oven   for 
Customs  Determinations 


must  be  able  to  detect  all  the  tricks 
with  which  unscrupulous  manufac- 
turers delude  the  ignorant  public. 
For  instance,  in  the  textiles  depart- 
ment, the  examiner  must  be  able 
to  tell  whether  a  piece  of  goods  con- 
tains cotton,  linen,  or  silk,  and  in 
what  proportion.  Having  determ- 
ined this,  he  must  know  the  quality 
of  the  material  used  in  making  it  up. 
If  it  is  of  silk,  he  must  determine 
whether  the  silk  is  artificial  or  natu- 
ral. If  natural,  what  kind  of  silk, 
and  where  it  came  from.  If  he  is 
in  doubt  about  the  matter,  he  refers 
a  sample  to  the  laboratory,  where 


HOW  UNCLE  SAM  PROTECTS  HIS  REVENUE 


325 


An  ITp-to-Date  Smuggler's  Vest  Has  Thirty • 
six  Pockets 


the  fabric  is  subjected  to  a  chemical 
test  in  order  to  determine  accurately 
what  its  composition  may  be.  Natu- 
rally, an  examiner  acquires  before 
long  such  an  experience  as  to  qualify 
him  as  an  expert,  an  experience  that 
it  is  impossible  to  obtain  anywhere 
else. 

Recently,  curiosities,  works  of  art, 
and  antiques,  over  a  hundred  years 
old,  have  been  admitted  free  of  duty. 

The  examiner  who  has  to  appraise 


the  work  of  artists  has  an  exceed- 
ingly difficult  task.  In  many  cases 
it  is  not  at  all  easy  to  distinguish 
between  spurious  and  genuine  old 
masters.  The  work  of  these  exam- 
iners is  of  undeniable  value  to  the 
country  in  preventing  the  importa- 
tion of  counterfeits. 

Similar  protection  against  fraud 
is  found  in  the  case  of  tea.  No  duty 
is  levied  on  tea,  but  all  tea  must 
be  examined  for  purity  before  being 
admitted  into  the  country.  In  the 
tea  room  of  the  New  York  Apprais- 
ers' Stores  a  hundred  thousand  sam- 
ples of  tea  must  be  tested  per  year. 
One  of  the  photographs  shows  the 
manner  of  testing.  Each  cup  con- 
tains a  different  sample  of  tea  iden- 
tified by  a  number  marked  on  the 
bottom  of  the  cup,  and  one  of  the 
cups  contains  a  standard  sample. 
Which  one  it  is  the  examiner  does 
not  know,  for  the  identification  of 
this  sample  also  is  marked  on  the 
bottom  of  the  cup.  The  examiner 
then  proceeds  to  arrange  the  cups 
according  to  the  color  and  taste  of 
the  tea.  After  the  grading  is  done 
the  samples  are  thrown  away  and 
the  cups  turned  upside  down  to 
show  the  identifying  numbers.  All 
the  samples  on  one  side  of  the  stand- 
ard are  passed  as  good  tea,  while 
those  on  the  other  side  are  rejected. 
To  make  sure  that  no  error  has  been 
made  the  test  is  repeated  with  a 
second  set  of  samples.  In  order  to 


SMUGGLING  DUTIABLE   GOODS  IN  BOOKS 


326 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


detect  any  pigment  used  in  the  tea 
the  leaves  are  mashed  on  a  piece  of 
white  paper,  and  then  the  paper  is 
examined  with  a  microscope  for  faint 
spots  of  coloring  matter.  The  tests 
are  very  rigid  and  thorough,  and  the 
United  States  may  pride  itself  on 
having  nothing  but  pure  tea  to  drink. 

Perhaps  the  most  tedious  work  at 
the  Stores  is  the  testing  of  sugar. 
The  tariff  on  sugar  depends  on  the 
proportion  of  cane  sugar  the  samples 
contain.  This  is  determined  accur- 
ately by  means  of  a  polariscope, 
which  analyzes  the  light  that  passes 
through  samples  of  the  sugar  syrup. 
In  the  case  of  sugar  only  samples 
are  brought  to  the  Stores,  and  as 
a  check  upon  the  examiner,  two  sam- 
ples out  of  each  barrel  are  given 
him.  Each  sample  bears  its  own 
number,  but  the  examiners  have  no 
means  of  determining  which  two 
came  out  of  the  same  barrel.  Never- 
theless, his  work  must  be  so  accu- 
rate that  when  like  samples  are 
paired  again  the  readings  will  be 
practically  identical. 

The  laboratories  of  the  Stores  are 
also  kept  busy  with  quantitative  an- 


alyses of  various  chemical  products, 
particularly  in  the  search  for  alco- 
hols in  medicines,  etc.  There  is 
a-lso  a  section  devoted  to  metallurgi- 
cal analyses. 

Obviously  it  would  be  impossible 
to  examine  every  article  imported 
into  the  country,  and  so  it  is  the 
practice  to  bring  at  least  ten  per 
cent  of  a  shipment  to  the  Stores. 
If  the  shipment  consists  of  but  one 
or  two  cases  of  goods  at  least  one 
case  must  be  examined.  The  cases 
that  go  to  the  Stores  are  picked  out 
at  random  by  the  examiner.  He 
compares  the  contents  of  the  case 
with  the  invoice  and  then  investi- 
gates one  of  the  articles  under  the 
invoice  minutely  in  order  to  deter- 
mine its  quality.  If  this  tallies  with 
the  specifications  the  case  is  passed. 
In  the  case  of  leaf  tobacco,  every 
package  must  be  opened,  in  order 
to  determine  whether  the  leaves 
are  good  enough  to  be  used  for 
wrappers,  which  must  carry  a  duty 
of  one  dollar  and  eighty-five  cents 
per  pound,  or  whether  they  are  fit 
only  for  fillers,  which  pay  thirty- 
five  cents  duty. 


TESTING  THE  COLOR  AND  STRENGTH  OF  TEA 


CHAPTEK    XXVI. 

UNCLE  SAM'S  NON-CONTIGUOUS  POSSESSIONS 

ALASKA,  1867 


ALASKA  is  a  gigantic  headland 
thrusting  itself  out  from  the 
extreme  northwest  '  corner  of 
the  American  continent,  with  the 
waves  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  washing 
its  northern  and  western  shores,  and 
the  Pacific  bounding  it  on  the  south ; 
only  the  narrow  Bering  Strait  sep- 
arates it  from  Siberia,  while  to  the 
east  lies  Yukon  Territory  and  Brit- 
ish Columbia.  About  a  third  of  its 
area  is  within  the  Arctic  Circle.  We 
purchased  Alaska  from  Russia  in 
1867  for  $7,200,000;  for  a  long  time 


we  neglected  its  possibilities,  and 
the  revenue  from  it  was  small,  but 
since  1867,  and  mostly  within  the 
past  sixteen  years,  its  utilized  min- 
erals, fish  and  furs  have  reached  the 
enormous  value  of  some  $600,000,000, 
or  more  than  eighty  times  its  pur- 
chase price.  About  half  this  return 
must  be  credited  to  minerals,  chiefly 
to  gold,  while  fisheries  and  furs  pro- 
vide the  other  half.  Of  course  there 
have  been  large  administration  ex- 
penses, but  these  probably  do  not 
exceed  $50,000,000. 


17O  160  150  14O  130 


SOME  OF  THE  PHYSICAL  ASPECTS   OF   ALASKA 


Copyright   by  Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


328 


OUR    COUNTRY    ANU   ITS    RESOURCES 


Alaska's  590,844  square  miles, 
which  we  acquired  for  one  and  three- 
quarters  cents  an  acre,  give  her  al- 
most three  times  the  area  of  France, 
and  more  than  double  that  of  Texas. 
This  area  falls  into  four  natural 
divisions:  the  Arctic  Slope  region, 
with  a  maximum  elevation  of  3,000 
feet;  the  Central  Plateau,  3,000  to 
5,000  feet;  the  Rocky  Mountain 
system,  entering  from  Yukon  and 
stretching  across  the  country  in  a 
northeasterly  direction ;  and  the  Pa- 
cific system,  including  the  Alaskan, 
St.  Elias,  and  "Panhandle"  ranges, 
with  such  peaks  as  Mt.  Crillon,  15,- 
900  feet,  the  active  volcano  Mt. 
Wrangell,  17,500  feet,  Mt.  St.  Elias, 
18,024  feet,  and  Mt.  McKinley,  tow- 
ering to  the  height  of  20,300  feet, 
and  taking  rank  as  the  highest  on 
United  States  soil,  and  the  thirteenth 
highest  in  the  world. 

The  greatest  river  system  of 
Alaska  is  that  of  the  Yukon  and  its 
tributaries,  the  Koyukuk  and  the 
Tanana.  This  system  provides  3,000 
miles  of  navigable  water.  The 
Kuskokwim,  another  important  riv- 
er, is  navigable  for  600  miles.  There 
are  several  fine  lakes,  among  them 
the  160-mile  reach  of  Nikhkak,  in 
the  rugged  Sitkan  district. 

The  climate  is  milder  than  might 
be  expected  from  the  high  latitude. 
The  interior,  of  course,  presents  rig- 
orous conditions,  but  the  coastal  re- 
gions of  the  Pacific  are  beneficially 
affected  by  a  warm  current  similar 
to  that  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  These 
regions  have  a  copious  rain-fall;  at 
Sitka  the  average  is  80  inches,  com- 
pared with  44.6  inches  for  New  York 
City. 

The  old  belief  that  Alaska  could 
never  have  any  real  agricultural 
value  is  disappearing.  The  Govern- 
ment experimental  work,  for  which 
the  main  station  is  at  Sitka,  has  re- 
sulted in  producing  at  Coldfoot,  60 
miles  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  8- 
inch  cucumbers,  19-inch  rhubarb,  4- 
inch  potatoes,  and  8-pound  cabbages. 
Lettuce  is  especially  crisp  and  de- 
licious, and  turnips  of  good  quality 


aicain  a  weight  of  16  pounds.  Along 
the  coast,  seaweed  and  fish  guano 
make  excellent  fertilizers.  •  Here  the 
heavy  rains  prevent  grain  from  be- 
ing raised,  except  for  forage;  but 
in  the  interior,  and  particularly  at 
Rampart,  very  satisfactory  results 
have  been  obtained.  Of  the  capital 
cities  of  the  United  States,  31  record 
as  low  degrees  of  temperature  as 
Sitka,  and  4  are  colder  than  Valdez, 
while  the  winter  of  Juneau  is  usu- 
ally milder  than  that  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  Roses,  lilacs,  and  Eng- 
lish ivy  thrive  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Seward,  and  southeastern  Alaska 
boasts  fifty  species  of  birds,  among 
them  the  song  sparrow  and  the  her- 
mit thrush. 

Juneau,  the  capital,  with  its  quaint 
shops  and  its  streets  that  terrace  to 
the  water,  is  picturesque  and  lively. 
It  has  good  schools,  churches,  clubs, 
and  hospitals,  a  library,  a  theater, 
a  chamber  of  commerce,  and  news- 
papers. Fine  lawns  and  well-fur- 
nished homes  are  not  lacking,  and 
the  town  is  equipped  with  a  good 
water  supply  and  electric  light. 

Some  27,000,000  acres  of  the  Ter- 
ritory is  covered  by  timber — cedar, 
hemlock,  spruce,  and  fir.  Alaskan 
cedar  is  admirable  for  shipbuilding, 
cabinet  work,  and  interior  finish ;  it 
is  close-textured,  and  wonderfully 
durable  under  exacting  conditions, 
and  its  odor  is  so  suggestive  of  san- 
dalwood  that  it  has  been  shipped 
to  Japan,  made  into  ornamental 
boxes  and  fans,  and  sold  as  genuine 
sandalwood. 

Of  the  fishing  industries,  that  of 
salmon  is  of  commanding  import- 
ance ;  the  wrorth  of  the  annual  catch 
may  be  roughly  placed  at  $15,000,000. 
In  May,  the  "China  boss"  brings  to 
the  canneries  a  horde  of  Chinese, 
Japanese,  South  Americans,  and 
Filipinos.  Men,  women  and  little 
children  work  at  top  speed  during 
the  canning  season,  twelve  and  four- 
teen hours  a  day  and  seven  days  a 
week.  Fish  poisoning  is  common. 
Housing  conditions  are  unspeakably 
bad.  In  catching  salmon,  there  are 


i 


330 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


no  restrictions  as  to  method,  and  the 
trap  system  menaces  the  life  of  the 
industry.  The  day's  catch  of  one 
fisherman,  during  a  particularly 
heavy  "run,"  was  3,000  salmon.  Na- 
tives are  asking  for  remedial  legis- 
lation, the  enforcement  of  the  laws 
governing  restraint  of  trade,  and  the 
regulation  of  child  labor.  Another 
urgent  need  of  Alaska  is  more  light- 
houses along  her  dangerous  coasts. 

Alaska  is  under  a  Governor  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  for  a  four- 
year  term.  Since  1912  it  has  had  a 
Legislature  of  two  Houses.  The  Ter- 
ritory is  in  the  Ninth  Circuit  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  with  its  four  judi- 
cial divisions  at  Juneau,  Fairbanks, 
Valdez,  and  Nome.  Each  division 
elects  two  members  for  the  Senate 
and  four  for  the  House,  the  Senate 
thus  consisting  of  eight  members 
and  the  House  of  sixteen.  One  dele- 
gate is  sent  to  Congress  from  the 
Territory. 

Business  licenses  furnish  most  of 
the  revenue,  which  is  approximately 
$1,000,000.  In  1909  there  were  152 
industrial  establishments,  with  a 
combined  capital  of  $13,000,000,  a 
combined  output  valued  at  $11,- 
130,000,  and  employing  73,479  men. 

Education  is  carried  on  by  means 
of  a  hundred  schools,  enrolling,  in 
1913,  6,563  children,  and  costing 
$350,000  to  support.  These  are 
maintained  partly  by  the  Federal 
Government  and  partly  by  the  muni- 
cipalities. 


In  1913,  460  miles  of  railroad  were 
in  operation.  In  1915,  two  routes 
for  a  most  important  Government 
railroad  were  before  President  Wil- 
son. One  was  the  Cordova-Fair- 
banks route;  the  other  was  that 
from  Seward,  on  Resurrection  Bay, 
to  Fairbanks,  471  miles  inland  along 
the  Tanana  River.  He  finally  select- 
ed the  latter  route,  two  reasons 
probably  influencing  his  choice. 
First,  a  railroad  from  Seward  al- 
most to  Knik  already  exists,  and 
was  purchasable  for  the  very  rea- 
sonable sum  of  $1,150,000;  this  re- 
duces the  length  of  the  new  work  by 
some  hundred  miles.  Second,  Se- 
ward has  probably  the  best  harbor 
and  town  site  in  Alaska.  The  new 
road  will  cost  $26,000,000,  including 
the  construction  of  a  branch  from 
Matanuska  Junction  to  the  Mata- 
nuska  coal  field,  one  of  the  most 
valuable  fields  of  high-grade  coal  in 
the  Territory.  The  work  is  under 
the  direction  of  the  Alaskan  En- 
gineering Commission,  and  will  later 
be  exended  to  Yukon,  thus  opening 
up  the  interior  and  its  vast  re- 
sources. 

According  to  the  census  of  1910, 
the  population  of  Alaska  was  made 
up  of  36,347  white  and  28,009  na- 
tives, Asiatics,  and  negroes.  The 
natives  are  the  Eskimo,  or  Innuit, 
of  the  north  and  northeast,  the  Tin- 
nehs,  or  Indians  of  the  interior,  the 
Aleuts,  or  islanders,  and  the  Tlingits 
of  the  North  Pacific  coast. 


HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS,  1898 


TEiS  cluster  of  islands  consti- 
tuting the  Territory  of  Hawaii 
was  formerly  known  as  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  is  found  in 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean.  Hawaii, 
the  largest  and  most  southerly  of 
the  group,  emerges  from  the  sea 
about  1,300  miles  north  of  the  equa- 
tor, and  2,200  miles  from  San  Fran- 
cisco. The  discovery  of  these  is- 
lands is  usually  credited  to  Capt. 
Cook,  in  1778,  although  an  earlier 
discovery  is  claimed  by  Spain. 


American  missionaries  were  sent 
there  in  1820,  and  these  men  re- 
duced the  language  to  written  form  ; 
soon  after  this  idolatry  was  abolished 
by  a  decree  of  the  ruler,  Kamehame- 
ha  II.  In  1844,  the  independence  of 
the  islands  was  guaranteed  by  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  and 
France.  On  August  12th,  1898,  the 
archipelago  was  transferred  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  on  June  14th,  1900,  it  was  or- 
ganized as  a  Territory. 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


331 


The  islands  have  an  area  of  6,449 
square  miles.  Although  they  lie  en- 
tirely within  the  tropics,  the  heat 
is  moderated  by  the  trade  winds 
that  blow  for  nine  months  of  the 
year;  clear  skies  and  an  equable 
temperature  characterize  the  cli- 
mate and  conduce  to  the  healthfm 
conditions  which  prevail.  The  tem- 
perature at  Honolulu,  the  capital, 
averages  71  deg.  F.  in  December, 
and  less  than  77  deg.  F.  in  July. 
The  rainfall  varies  greatly,  the 
windward  side  of  the  islands  re- 
ceiving the  most.  At  Hilo  it  may  be 
eighty  inches  or  more,  while  at  the 
more  sheltered  Honolulu  the  aver- 
age is  probably  within  thirty-eight 
inches  annually.  There  are  no  hur- 
ricanes of  damaging  violence,  al- 
though several  high  gales  may  be 
expected  in  the  course  of  the  winter 
season. 


r  \OAHU 


HAWAIIAN 
ISLANDS 


There  are  eight  islands  in  the  Ha- 
waiian group,  besides  numerous 
islets  for  the  most  part  uninhabited. 
Hawaii  Island,  the  largest,  contains 
4,210  square  miles,  and  the  popula- 
<ion  in  1910  was  55,382.  Here 
launa  Loa,  the  largest  volcano  in 
the  world,  looms  13,675  feet  into  the 
air;  Mauna  Kea  slightly  exceeds 
this  height,  reaching  13,805  feet, 
and  ranking  as  the  highest  peak  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Mauna  Loa  is  still 
active,  and  sixteen  miles  away,  in  a 
southerly  direction,  is  Kilauea  Hill, 
which  has  the  distinction  of  possess- 
ing the  largest  active  crater  in  the 
world,  nine  miles  in  circumference, 
with  vertical  sides  1,000  feet  in 
depth.  The  eastern  coast  is  scarred 


by  ravines  reaching  a  depth  of  2,000 
feet,  through  which  eighty-five 
streams  pour  their  waters. 

Northeast  of  Hawaii  is  Maui  Is- 
land, of  728  square  miles,  with  a 
population  in  li>10  of  28,623.  It  is 
mountainous,  and  presents  some  pic- 
turesque scenery.  Its  two  main  por- 
tions are  connected  by  a  sandy  isth- 
mus that  is  but  little  above  sea  level. 
The  summit  of  Mount  Haleakala 
(10,032  feet)  may  be  reached  on 
horseback;  the  long,  regular  gradi- 
ents make  this  feat  comparatively 
easy.  At  the  summit  is  found  the 
largest  extinct  crater  in  the  world. 
The  northwest  coast  possesses  a 
good  harbor  in  Lahaina,  with  steam- 
ers plying  between  that  port  and 
Honolulu. 

Molokai  Island,  not  much  more 
than  a  third  as  large  as  Maui,  is 
occupied  by  a  low  mountain  range, 
and  is  popularly  known  as  the  site 
of  the  leper  settlement,  where  all 
those  affected  by  the  disease  are  iso- 
lated. 

Oahu  Island,  with  a  population  of 
90,000  and  an  area  of  about  500 
square  miles,  presents  some  of  the 
most  charming,  natural  forma- 
tions, combining  mountains  and  ra- 
vines, cascading  waters,  and  rich 
foliage  and  vegetation  into  pictures 
wholly  satisfying  to  the  artistic  eye. 
Coral  reefs  girdle  its  coasts,  and  on 
the  southern  shore  is  Honolulu,  the 
capital  of  the  Territory,  on  a  plain 
formed  by  the  upheaval  of  an  old 
coral  reef. 

Kauai  Island  possesses  the  most 
fertile  soil  of  any  in  the  group,  the 
advanced  decomposition  of  its  lavas 
showing  that  volcanic  action  has 
been  long  extinct.  It  is  roughly  cir- 
cular in  shape,  of  an  area  of  547 
square  miles,  and  in  1910  the  popu- 
lation was  23,744.  Twenty  miles  to 
the  southwest  is  the  little  island  of 
Niihau. 

Cook  found  few  animals  in  the 
islands.  There  were  dogs,  rats  and 
hogs,  and  a  day-flying  bat.  The 
only  reptile  was  a  small  lizard. 
There  are  now  cattle,  sheep  and 
goats,  and  some  deer.  More  than 


332 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


fifty  species  of  birds  have  been 
found,  but  the  Chinese  turtle-dove 
and  the  European  house-sparrow 
are  the  only  birds  frequenting  the 
towns. 

The  windward  districts  are  quite 
heavily  forested.  Sandalwood  is 
no  longer  obtainable,  but  the  can- 
dle-nut and  the  screw  pine  are  char- 
acteristic of  the  slopes  and  valleys, 
while  the  cocoanut  palm  grows  free- 
ly on  the  coast.  The  soil  is  general- 
ly very  productive,  and  in  1910  there 
were  4,350  farms,  covering  2,590,600 
acres,  the  land  being  valued  at  $78,- 
000,000;  the  live  stock  upon  them 
was  worth  $4,300,000.  The  commer- 
cial products  include  coffee,  rice, 
arrowroot,  honey,  bananas,  sisal, 
wool,  hides,  skins  and  tallow,  rub- 
ber, cotton,  and  tobacco,  but  sugar 
and  tropical  fruits  are  the  chief  ex- 
ports. On  the  sugar  plantations 
the  growing  use  of  irrigation  canals 
is  resulting  in  increased  crops ;  that 
of  1914  was  618,000  tons,  and  the 
yield  is  from  two  to  seven  tons  to 
the  acre,  depending  upon  location. 
The  industrial  establishments  of  the 
islands  numbered,  in  1910,  500,  with 
7,572  employees,  and  a  combined 
capital  of  $23,875,000;  the  material 
used  was  valued  at  $25,629,000,  the 
output  at  $47,404,000. 

Communication  facilities  are  con- 
stantly being  improved.  There  is  a 
large  and  increasing  mileage  of 
good  roads,  and  more  than  300  miles 
of  railway,  240  miles  of  it  being  on 
the  islands  of  Hawaii  and  Oahu. 
In  Honolulu  almost  every  house 
has  its  telephone;  there  are  6,000 
miles  of  wire  on  the  five  main  is- 
lands. The  best  harbors,  after  that 
of  flWfcolulu,  are  Pearl,  on  Oahu; 
Hilo,  on  Hawaii;  and  Kahului,  on 
Maui.  From  these  and  the  lesser 
ports  of  the  group,  436  vessels  of  a 
total  tonnag%**c|  1,574,845  cleared 
in  1915,  and  in  the  same  year  456 
vessels,  of  1,605,925  tons,  entered. 
Inter-island  transportation  is  pro- 
vided for  by  a  fleet  of  sixteen  small 
steamers.  At  Honolulu  new  wharves 
have  been  constructed,  and  the  larg- 
est steamers  can  now  be  accommo- 


dated. At  Hilo  and  at  Kahului 
breakwaters  have  been  built,  and 
the  harbor  of  Kahului  has  been 
deepened.  The  erection  of  light- 
houses has  progressed  steadily. 
Ten  steamship  lines  touch  at  the 
islands,  from  Canada,  the  United 
States,  the  Philippines,  China, 
Japan,  and  Australia.  Wireless 
puts  the  islands  into  communication 
with  each  other,  with  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  with  vessels  at  sea,  and 
cables  stretch  to  both  shores  of  the 
Pacific. 

Upon  formal  annexation  to  the 
United  States,  a  Legislature  of  two 
houses  was  established.  Fifteen 
members  are  elected  for  a  four-year 
term  to  the  Senate,  and  thirty  mem- 
bers with  two-year  terms  constitute 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Once 
in  two  years  these  bodies  meet  in 
a  sixty-day  session.  The  President 
of  the  United  States  appoints  for 
four  years  a  Governor,  at  a  salary 
of  $7,000,  and  a  Secretary.  A  Dele- 
gate is  elected  to  the  United  States 
Congress  by  popular  vote.  The  ju- 
diciary consists  of  a  Supreme  Court 
and  Circuit  and  District  Courts ;  dis- 
trict magistrates  are  appointed  by 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  all  other  judges,  including 
those  of  a  United  States  District 
Court,  are  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent. There  were  nearly  8,000  con- 
victions in  1915,  mostly  for  minor 
offenses. 

There  were  170  public  schools  in 
1915,  where  735  teachers  gave  in- 
struction to  29,000  pupils,  at  a  cost 
of  $772,000;  besides  this,  $70,000 
was  expended  upon  new  buildings. 
These  are  free  schools,  and  English 
is  the  language  in  general  use.  In 
addition,  there  are  about  fifty  pri- 
vate schools,  with  an  enrollment  of 
7,700  pupils,  industrial  schools  for 
both  boys  and  girls,  a  normal  school, 
a  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Me- 
chanic Arts>  and  a  reformatory. 
The  enrollment  records  disclose  the 
fact  that  of  all  these  pupils  some 
18,000  are  Asiatics,  8,000  are  of 
Hawaiian  blood,  5,700  are  Portu- 
guese, and  1,403  American,  the  re- 


Photos  by  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Natives  Catching  Fish 
Objects  of  Culture 

HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 


334 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


mainder  being  Germans  and  British. 
In  the  old  days,  the  Hawaiian 
was  a  coast  dweller,  having  his 
grass  hut  under  the  palms,  and  his 
garden  or  small  plantation  on  the 
hill  slopes.  A  little  patch  of  kalo, 
less  than  fifty  feet  square,  provided 
him  with  a  year's  sustenance.  He 
was  a  great  fisherman,  and  there  are 
in  existence  lines  made  from  fine 
olonci  fiber  which  have  seen  a  cen- 
tury of  service,  and  are  still  in  good 
condition.  His  huge  sailing  canoe 
was  a  familiar  sight  to  the  Me- 
lanesians,  and  the  impression  made 
by  his  gigantic  war  canoe,  carrying 


pean  costume ;  his  fishing  line,  when 
he  condescends  to  fish,  is  of  cheap 
foreign  manufacture,  and  much  of 
the  fish  he  eats  comes  from  the  tin 
can ;  the  picturesque  hut  of  grass 
has  been  almost  wholly  replaced  by 
the  shack  of  rude  wood,  and  he  is 
on  intimate  terms  with  the  slum 
of  the  town.  When  Capt.  Cook 
found  him,  he  was  one  of  a  proud 
race  400.000  strong ;  to-day  that  raoe 
has  dwindled  to  less  than  25,000,  if 
we  exclude  the  12,000  of  mixed 
blood. 

The  modern  Hawaiian  has,  how- 
ever,   retained    many    of   the   char- 


-      ::^m-.  <*•-* 


,  1 1 1, ,   :  ui 


GOVERNMENT    BUILDING,    HONOLULU 


its  hundred  ruddy-skinned  warriors, 
must  have  been  awe-inspiring.  This 
was  in  the  days  when  the  goddess 
Pele  spoke  from  her  volcanic  throne, 
and  'Tele's  hair,"  a  sort  of  natural 
mineral  wool  spun  by  the  wind  from 
lava-drops,  was  found  in  the  crev- 
ices as  substantial  evidence  of  her 
reality.  All  this  has  passed.  The 
Hawaiian  of  to-day  affects  Euro- 


acteristics  that  make  him  so  attrac- 
tive to  us.  He  is  still  a  fine  speci- 
men of  physical  humanity,  pleasure- 
loving,  athletic,  and  musical  in 
voice  and  in  temperament.  His 
guitar  still  holds  tones  that  have 
never  been  duplicated  upon  other 
instruments  or  evoked  by  other  fin- 
gers. His  women  continue  to  weave 
their  flower  garlands  and  bright 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


necklaces,  and  the  dance  has  lost 
none  of  its  abandon. 

There  are  in  the  islands  80,000 
Japanese,  22,000  Chinese,  and  22,000 
Portuguese,  and  several  thousand 
Filipinos  have  been  introduced. 
Japanese,  Chinese,  and  Korean  im- 
migration is  now  forbidden. 

The  census  of  1910  gives  the  popu- 
lation of  Honolulu  as  52,183,  and 
the  entire  population  of  the  inhab- 
ited islands  is  now  estimated  to  be 
322,856.  Honolulu  is  in  many  as- 
pects quite  modern  ;  electricity  lights 
its  streets  and  operates  its  cars.  It 
has  a  Roman  Catholic  and  an  Angli- 
can bishop,  and  ministers  of  several 
other  denominations.  It  has  fine 
parks,  a  water  system,  hotels,  clubs, 
newspapers,  a  hospital,  a  large 
library,  a  museum,  and  several 
large  manufacturing  establishments. 

The  Hawaiian  National  Guard  is 
a  body  of  a  thousand  men,  and  mili- 


tary works  are  in  progress  at  va- 
rious places  in  Oahu,  including 
fortifications,  a  naval  station,  and 
a  drydock  at  Pearl,  on  the  island 
of  Oahu. 

A  direct  property  tax  furnishes 
most  of  the  revenue  of  the  Territory, 
augmented  by  licenses  and  land 
sales,  road,  school  and  poll  taxes. 
The  assessed  value  of  all  property 
in  1915  was  $176,601,222,  the  annual 
receipts  from  all  sources  were  $2,- 
796,146,  and  the  expenditures  $2,- 
747,270;  there  is  a  bonded  debt  of 
$7,873,000.  The  exports  of  the  Ter- 
ritory were  $62,464,759,  the  imports 
$26,416,031,  for  the  year  ending 
June  30th,  1915.  Practically  all  the 
export  trade  was  with  the  United 
States,  as  was  80  per  cent  of  the 
import  trade.  Raw  sugar  accounted 
for  $51,368,995  of  the  export  figures, 
refined  sugar  for  $1,584,100,  and 
tropical  fruits  for  $6,319,129. 


PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS,  1899 


IN  our  East  India  possessions,  the 
Philippine  and  Sulu  Islands,  we 
have  a  territory  as  large  as  the 
United  Kingdom,  with  a  population 
larger  than  that  of  Canada.  To  put 
it  more  exactly,  if  less  impressively, 
the  area  of  the  archipelago  is  121,- 
400  square  miles,  and  the  population 
is  9,000,000.  The  formation  of  the 
group  suggests  a  wish-bone,  with  the 
largest  and  most  northerly  island, 
Luzon,  as  the  stem;  Mindoro  and 
the  long,  narrow  Palawan,  with  the 
chain  of  islets  between  them,  forms 
the  western  fork  of  the  bone;  the 
eastern  fork  is  made  up  of  Samar, 
Panay,  Negros  and  Mindanao,  the 
latter  being  the  second  largest  and 
the  most  southerly  island  of  the 
group.  The  islands  and  islets  num- 
ber altogether  3,141.  The  China  Sea, 
which  washes  the  western  coasts, 
puts  500  miles  of  water  between  the 
group  and  the  continent  of  Asia. 
The  Sulu  chain  bridges  the  gap  be- 
tween Mindanao  and  Borneo,  and 
farther  north  the  gap  is  again 
bridged  by  the  long  arm  of  Palawan 


and  Balabac ;  these  extensions  en- 
close the  Sulu  Sea;  to  the  south 
rolls  the  Celebes  Sea,  and  on  the 
east  is  the  vast  extent  of  the  Pa- 
cific, the  first  mainland  encountered 
in  this  direction  being  Central 
America. 


336 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


The  Philippines  were  discovered 
by  Magellan  in  1521.  Spain  took 
them  by  conquest  in  1542,  and  held 
them  for  more  than  three  centuries ; 
but  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  Admiral  Dewey, 
commanding  our  Pacific  fleet,  de- 
stroyed the  Spanish  warships  in 
Manila  Bay  on  May  1,  1898,  and 
Manila  was  taken  by  General  Mer- 
ritt  in  the  following  August.  The 


Mt.  Mayon,  in  Luzon,  broke  into 
devastating  activity;  mild  earth- 
quake shocks  are  frequent,  but  the 
buildings  are  so  constructed  as  to 
withstand  fairly  severe  shocks.  The 
islands  are  all  mountainous,  the  gen- 
eral trend  of  the  systems  being  north 
and  south.  Mt.  Apo  (10,300  feet) 
on  Mindanao  is  the  highest  summit ; 
no  other  peaks  exceed  9,000  feet. 
The  longest  river  is  the  Cagayan, 


LOVELY  PHILIPPINE   SCENERY 


Treaty  of  Paris  (December  10,  1898) 
ceded  the  archipelago  to  the  United 
States.  Then  followed  battles  with 
the  native  forces  under  Aguinaldo, 
ending  with  his  capture  in  March, 
1901. 

Of  volcanic  formation,  the  Philip- 
pines still  have  twelve  active  vol- 
canoes. In  1880  destructive  earth- 
quakes were  experienced ;  in  1897 


which  rises  in  the  mountains  of  the 
eastern  coast  of  Luzon  and  traverses 
the  island  in  a  northerly  direction 
for  220  miles;  other  important 
streams  are  the  Cotobate  and  the 
Agusan  in  Mindanao.  The  Laguna 
de  Bay,  a  fresh  water  lake,  near 
Manila,  is  thirty  miles  long,  and 
numerous  smaller  lakes  are  scattered 
throughout  the  islands.  The  archi- 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


337 


pelago  has  a  longitudinal  extent  of 
a  thousand  miles;  from  northern 
Luzon  to  southern  Mindanao  is  as 
far  as  from  New  York  City  to  south- 
ern Florida ;  hence  it  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  climatic  conditions  vary 
greatly  in  different  portions  of  the 
group.  While  the  climate  is,  of 
course,  tropical,  the  heat  is  on  the 
whole  more  bearable  than  that  en- 
countered in  many  temperate  coun- 
tries. The  seasons  may  be  desig- 
nated as  hot,  wet  and  cold.  The  hot 
season  (March  to  June)  is  at  its 
worst  just  before  the  southerly  trade 
winds  begin  to  blow ;  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  season  violent  thunder- 
storms occur  ;  from  July  and  through 
October  the  rain  falls  in  torrents, 
often  registering  seventy  inches  for 
the  four  months;  in  Manila,  seventy- 
five  inches  is  perhaps  a  fair  annual 
average.  From  November  to  March 
is  the  so-called  cold  season,  when 
heavier  garments  are  necessary  to 
comfort  and  a  sense  of  invigoration 
is  born  of  the  cloudless  skies  and 
the  cleansed  air.  The  mean  temper- 
ature at  Manila  is,  for  the  hot 
season,  about  87  degrees;  for  the 
wet  season,  85  degrees,  and  for  the 
cold,  72  degrees. 

The  fauna  of  the  islands  is  not 
prodigal  in  mammals,  but  it  offers 
peculiarities  that  well  repay  the  nat- 
uralist. There  are  wild  boar  and 
deer;  monkeys  are  found  every- 
where, one  species  being  a  pure 
white ;  there  is  a  lemur  about  the 
size  of  a  squirrel,  which  sleeps  the 
day  through  and  seeks  its  food  by 
night,  its  long  hind-legs  propelling 
it  over  the  ground  in  frog-like  leaps  4* 
there  are  two  species  of  civet,  and  a 
wild  cat;  also  porcupines,  squirrels 
and  rats,  and  numerous  species  of 
bats;  lizards,  alligators  and  turtles 
are  found,  and  some  enormous  mol- 
luscs; the  shell  of  the  tablobo  has 
been  known  to  attain  the  weight  of 
two  hundred  pounds.  The  waters 
provide  both  curious  and  valuable 
fish.  The  usual  domestic  animals 
are  met  with,  and  the  buffalo  is 
used  in  the  fields. 


The  forested  area  is  extensive,  and 
is  under  the  supervision  of  the 
United  States  Forestry  Bureau.  It 
offers  a  wonderful  variety  of  tim- 
ber, cabinet  woods,  palms,  trees 
yielding  gums,  spices  and  dyewoods, 
and  bamboo.  No  matter  what  par- 
ticular quality  or  combination  of 
qualities  may  be  sought  to  meet 
special  uses,  a  timber  may  readily 
be  found  that  will  admirably  serve 
the  purpose.  Since  the  supply  great- 
ly exceeds  any  local  demand  that  is 
likely  to  arise,  these  forests  consti- 
tute a  most  valuable  resource. 
Three-fourths  of  the  trees  are  of  the 
dipterocarp  family,  corresponding  to 
the  conifers  of  our  zone.  From  this 
family  may  be  obtained  an  abun- 
dance of  woods  eminently  suitable 
for  interior  finish  and  for  furniture, 
and  exhibiting  a  wide  range  of  color 
and  texture.  Tanguile  and  red 
lauan  closely  resemble  mahogany  in 
appearance.  If  hardness  be  the  qual- 
ity sought,  guipo  and  apitong  may 
be  relied  upon ;  they  are  extensively 
used  for  flooring,  and  a  still  harder 
wood  used  for  this  purpose  is  yacal ; 
this  latter  is  ideal  for  heavy  con- 
struction work,  as  are  also  ipil  and 
pagatpat ;  these  timbers  make  strong 
and  durable  railroad  ties.  Should 
we  seek  beautiful  cabinet  woods 
there  are  many  trees  of  the  locust 
family,  among  which  may  be  found 
colors  and  grainings  to  satisfy  the 
most  exacting  tastes ;  the  ipel  is  a 
striking  example  in  this  class.  Then 
there  are  woods  that  lend  themselves 
to  less  common  and  even  more  diffi- 
cult demands.  Mancono  and  dungon 
make  the  finest  dumb-bells,  bowling 
balls  and  bearings.  Calantas  is  an 
excellent  substitute  for  the  Spanish 
cedar  used  in  cigar  boxes.  Ebony, 
the  highest  priced  of  all  Philippine 
woods,  has  a  wide  distribution,  but 
the  trees  do  not  attain  any  great 
size;  perfect  pieces  bring  $300  a 
thousand  feet  board  measure. 

The  islands  are  far  from  poor  in 
minerals.  In  most  of  the  larger  ones 
gold  is  found,  and  the  crude  work- 
ings of  the  natives  have  now  given 


sas 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


place  to  an  established  industry  that, 
in  1913,  produced  nearly  a  million 
dollars'  worth  of  the  precious  metal. 
Other  minerals  found  in  greater  or 
less  quantities  are  silver,  platinum, 
mercury,  lead  and  manganese ;  there 
are  several  coal  fields,  iron  exists  in 
various  parts  of  the  archipelago,  cop- 
per has  long  been  mined  by  the  na- 
tives for  manufacture  into  utensils, 
and  there  are  evidences  of  sulphur, 
petroleum,  rock  salt,  kaolin  and 
gypsum.  In  1913  the  value  of  all 
minerals  yielded  up  by  the  soil  was 
$1,972,290. 

The  aborigines  were  probably  Ne- 
gritos, who  were  gradually  forced 
into  the  remoter  natural  strongholds 
by  their  Malayan  invaders,  until  the 
latter  came  to  dominate  the  islands. 
Of  the  present  entire  population  of 
9,000,000  nearly  8,000,000  are  Roman 
Catholics;  the  Moros  are  Mohamme- 
dans, and  number  perhaps  300,000 ; 
the  uncivilized,  pagan  tribes  of  the 
mountains,  scattered  throughout  the 
islands,  make  up  the  remainder.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  non-Christian 
and  uncivilized  elements  can  neither 
singly  nor  together  be  taken  as  in 
any  way  representative  of  the  Fil- 
ipino people.  The  Malayan  is  the 
dominant  and  representative  stock. 
At  the  social  functions  of  Manila  one 
meets  highly  educated  men  and 
women  in  the  conventional  evening 
dress.  Should  we  engage  one  of 
these  men  in  conversation  about  his 
country,  he  will  tell  us  that  writing 
was  common  before  the  arrival  of 
the  first  Spanish  monk,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  were  a  highly  moral  peo- 
ple at  that  time ;  that  they  have  en- 
joyed three  centuries  of  civilization ; 
that  at  the  time  of  the  American 
occupation,  45  per  cent  of  the  Chris- 
tians were  literate;  that  there  was 
a  university  in  the  Philippines  be- 
fore Harvard  was  founded,  and  that 
the  Americans  found  on  their  com- 
ing 1,674  public"  schools,  and  colleges 
for  both  men  and  women  in  every 
capital  city  of  any  importance ;  that 
Luna  had  already  achieved  interna- 
tional fame  as  an  artist,  and  music 


and  poetry  of  a  high  order  were 
written ;  and  that  the  unusually  fine 
examples  of  wood-carving  demon- 
strate the  artistry  of  the  Filipino 
craftsman.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
would  not  deny  that  American  occu- 
pation had  increased  the  number  of 
public  schools  to  more  than  4,000, 
and  had  raised  the  literacy  to  75 
per  cent.  There  are  now  37  educa- 
tional divisions  under  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  Public  Instruction, 
with  a  public  school  enrollment  of 
500.000 ;  there  are  normal  and  indus- 
trial trade  schools,  and  private 


STATUE    OF   MAGELLAN   IN  PALACE    AT 
MANILA 


schools  enroll  some  10,000  pupils. 
The  University  of  the  Philippines, 
maintained  by  the  State,  lias  col- 
leges of  Liberal  Arts,  Law,  Medi- 
cine and  Surgery,  Engineering,  Fine 
Arts,  Veterinary  Medicine  and  Agri- 
culture, with  2,000  students. 

Much  thought  has  been  given  to 
the  solution  of  tlie  problem  presented 
by  the  Moros.  With  this  in  view,  a 
hundred  miles  of  More  ceuntry  in 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


339 


the  island  of  Mindanao  has  been 
organized  into  eight  colonies,  where 
the  mixed  peoples  live  peacefully  to- 
gether, their  children  attending  the 
same  schools.  English  is  now  the 
official  language  of  the  archipelago. 
The  educated  Filipino  speaks  sev- 
eral languages  and  follows  American 
politics  assiduously.  The  people  are 
in  general,  kind,  hospitable  and  in- 
telligent. 

Agriculture  is  the  chief  industry, 
in  which  one-half  the  workers  are 
engaged.  More  than  8,000,000  acres 
are  under  cultivation,  3,000,000  acres, 
being  devoted  to  rice.  The  principal 
products  are  rice,  Manila  hemp, 
copra,  sugar,  maize  and  tobacco.  Ob- 
solete methods  and  insufficient  labor 
account  for  the  agricultural  possi- 
bilities being  in  a  neglected  state, 
but  our  occupation  is  already  accom- 
plishing good  results  in  this  direc- 
tion. All  public  schools  have  now 
an  elementary  course  in  agriculture, 
and  a  rural  credit  system  is  fur- 


NATIVES    OF    JOLO    SELLING    FRUIT 

thered  by  an  Agricultural  Bank  hav- 
ing twenty-six  agencies.  In  1914  the 
outstanding  loans  of  this  institution 
aggregated  nearly  two  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  1915  imports  amounted  to 
$44,479,861,  the  exports  to  $50,915,- 
061.  Abaca  or  Manila  hemp  stands 
first  on  the  export  list  with  a  value 
of  $19,000,000;  copra  next  with  a 


value  of  $12,000,000,  and  sugar  third 
with  a  value  of  $9,712,757;  cigars 
and  cigarettes  accounted  for  $2,102,- 
317,  and  all  other  tobacco  for  $1,- 
589,678.  The  value  of  the  chief  im- 
ports was  :  Cotton  goods,  $9,669,247 ; 
rice,  $5,448,301 ;  steel  and  iron  prod- 
ucts, $3,993,984.  Half  the  entire 
trade  of  the  islands  is  with  the 
United  States. 

The  central  government  is  vested 
in  a  Governor-General,  who  is  also 
President  of  the  Philippine  Commis- 
sion, assisted  by  eight  commissioners, 
four  of  whom  are  the  executive 
heads  of  departments  known  as  In- 
terior, Commerce  and  Police,  Fi- 
nance and  Justice,  and  Public  In- 
struction. The  commission  consti- 
tutes one  house  of  the  legislature,  the 
other  is  known  as  the  Assembly,  with 
eighty-one  members  elected  by  limited 
franchise  for  four  years.  Two  Resi- 
dent Commissioners,  elected  by  the 
Legislature,  take  their  seats,  but 
without  a  vote,  in  the  United  States 
House  of  Representatives.  Political- 
ly, the  archipelago  is  divided  into 
thirty-six  provinces  and,  in  addition, 
the  Department  of  Mindanao  and 
Sulu,  which  is  itself  divided  into 
provinces  and  districts.  Thirty-one 
are  known  as  regular,  and  the  others 
as  special,  provinces;  the  first  class 
are  governed  by  provincial  boards 
elected  by  the  people;  governors  of 
the  special  provinces  are  appointed 
by  the  Governor-General  and  the 
commission,  acting  in  concert.  Muni- 
cipal officers  are  elected  for  terms 
of  four  years  by  the  voters;  about 
nine  hundred  towns  enjoy  this  auton- 
omy. Each  town  has  a  justice  of 
the  peace ;  in  each  of  the  twenty-six 
judicial  divisions  the  administration 
of  justice  is  under  a  judge  of  first 
instance,  with  the  exception  of  the 
city  of  Manila,  which  constitutes  the 
ninth  district  or  division,  and  to 
which  four  judges  are  assigned. 
There  is  also  a  supreme  court.  Be- 
sides the  municipal  police,  there  is 
what  is  known  as  the  Philippines 
Constabulary,  with  a  strength  of 
about  350  officers  and  5,000  men. 


340 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


The  garrison  of  the  islands  has 
10,000  American  and  5,000  native 
troops,  and  a  body  known  as  the 
Philippine  scouts  number  about 
5,000. 

Customs  duties  and  internal  taxes 
provide  most  of  the  revenue,  which, 
in  1914,  was  $11,912,761 ;  in  the  same 
year  the  expenditures  were  $13,333,- 
321,  but  as  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  there  was  a  balance  of  $5,- 
679,587,  there  was  still  on  hand  at 
its  conclusion  $4,259,027.  In  1914 
the  bonded  debt  was  $16,125,000.  Of 
the  expenditures  for  this  year,  more 
than  $5,000,000  was  devoted  to  social 
and  public  improvement  and  eco- 
nomic development. 

Leprosy,  smallpox,  the  bubonic 
plague  and  cholera  were  formerly 
prevalent  in  the  islands.  Radical 
measures  have  been  taken  to  stamp 
out  these  diseases,  and  much  progress 
has  been  made.  There  are  between 
two  and  three  thousand  lepers  iso- 
lated in  a  colony  on  the  island  of 
Culion.  Intestinal  diseases,  which 
ravaged  the  Philippines,  have  been 
Deduced  by  almost  one-half;  this  re- 
sult is  attributed  largely  to  the  pure 
water  supply  secured  for  Manila; 
in  the  smaller  towns  this  has  been 
accomplished  by  the  drilling  of  hun- 
dreds of  artesian  wells.  It  is  as 
yet  hard  to  obtain  accurate  health 
statistics  except  for  Manila ;  here 
the  birth  rate  is  about  36,  and  the 
death  rate  25  or  less,  per  thousand. 

Manila  has  a  population  of  270,- 
000;  of  these  17,000  are  Chinese; 
there  are  probably  6,000  Americans, 
counting  in  the  garrison,  and  6,000 
Europeans,  two-thirds  of  them  Span- 
iards. Chinese  immigration  to  the 
Philippines  was  prohibited  in  1902, 
and  registration  is  required  of 
Chinese  laborers.  The  number  of 
Chinese  now  on  the  islands  is  put 
at  50,000,  and  the  entire  number  of 
whites  (American  and  European)  is 
estimated  to  be  20,000.  The  savage 
tribes  of  the  mountains  differ  widely 
in  many  respects,  and  it  is  a  mistake 
to  call  them  all  "Igorrotes."  Even 
the  Igorrotes,  filthy  and  barbarous 


as  they  are,  possess  some  good 
traits.  Although  they  live  in  moun- 
tainous parts  of  the  country  they 
cultivate  the  soil  industriously,  first 
terracing  the  slopes,  then  laying  out 
their  plots  upon  these  terraces,  irri- 
gating them  by  canals  that  are  con- 
structed with  no  mean  skill.  They 
are  monogamists  among  whom  di- 
vorce is  unknown,  and  by  whom  in- 
fidelity is  severely  punished. 

There  is  little  manufacturing  done 
in  the  Philippines,  but  pina  fibers, 
cotton  and  silk  are  woven  into  fab- 
rics that  are  frequently  attractive 
and  durable;  baskets,  cordage,  pot- 
tery, furniture,  hats,  mats,  musical 
instruments  and  carriages  are  also 
made;  but  the  only  manufacturing 
industry  of  note  is  that  of  cigars  and 
cigarettes;  305,000,000  cigars  were 
made  on  the  islands  in  1913,  about 
one-third  of  this  output  being  con- 
sumed in  the  country  while  the  rest 
was  exported ;  and  in  the  same  year 
4,500,000,000  cigarettes  were  pro- 
duced, mostly  for  local  consumption. 

There  are  more  than  5,000  miles 
of  good  road  in  the  Philippines,  1,800 
miles  being  hard-surfaced  road  of 
the  first  quality ;  permanent  bridges 
and  culverts  number  nearly  6,000. 
At  the  time  of  the  American  occu- 
pation in  1898  there  were  but  120 
miles  of  railway;  this  connected 
Manila  with  Dagupan.  There  are 
now  720  miles,  with  212  miles  more 
planned,  if  not  actually  under  con- 
struction; 600  miles  are  on  Luzon, 
72  on  Panay,  and  60  on  Cebu.  The 
islands  have  5,300  miles  of  telegraph 
lines  and  1,173  miles  of  cables;  700 
post-offices  handle  the  mail.  The 
postal  revenue  for  1914  was  $380,- 
942,  and  the  telegraph  revenue  was 
$283,305.  Money  orders  were  sold  to 
the  value  of  $8,272,858.  The  fine 
harbor  at  Manila  will  allow  of  the 
entrance  of  vessels  drawing  thirty 
feet  of  water,  and  next  in  importance 
are  the  harbors  of  Cebu  and  Iloilo. 
Cebu  is  a  city  of  60,000  population, 
and  Iloilo  has  50,000.  The  ports  of 
the  Philippines  in  1914  received  for- 
eign vessels  to  a  tonnage  of  1,912,756, 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


341 


and  the  tonnage  of  foreign  vessels 
clearing  was  1,931,249.  The  mercan- 
tile marine  consists  of  some  700  ves- 
sels, about  one-fourth  of  this  fleet 
being  steam  vessels,  totaling  55,000 
tons. 

Four  banks  are  established  in  the 
Philippines.  In  1904,  after  a  trou- 
blesome experience  with  the  Mexican 
dollar,  the  United  States  tried  the 
expedient  of  guaranteeing  by  gold 
the  Filipino  peso,  a  coin  worth  fifty 
cents  in  American  money.  Fluctua- 
tions in  value  are  thus  avoided,  and 
the  experiment  has  proved  quite  suc- 
cessful. The  postal  savings  bank  has 
now  about  45,000  depositors,  and  the 
total  deposits  are  nearly  3,000,000 
pesos, 

The  alertness  of  the  Filipino,  and 
his  eagerness  to  learn,  have  already 
been  touched  upon.  It  should  not, 
then,  surprise  us  that  more  than  a 
hundred  newspapers  are  published 
on  Filipino  soil.  The  predominating 
language  of  the  press  is  Spanish,  but 
no  less  than  27  of  these  newspapers 
are  in  English,  33  are  in  native  dia- 


PHILIPPINE    COFFEE    PLANTATION 

lects,  and  3  are  in  Chinese.  If  fur- 
ther promise  of  a  Filipino  rena- 
scency  is  required,  we  may  find  it 
in  the  quiet  tribute  of  the  Hon.  John 
Barrett,  director-general  of  the  Pan- 
American  Union,  who,  in  favorably 
comparing  the  Philippine  Congress 
with  the  Japanese  Parliament,  finds 
in  it  "a  ministry  of  bright  men,  of 
acknowledged  ability  as  internation- 
al lawyers." 


PORTO  KICO,  1899 


PORTO  RICO  is  the  most  east- 
erly island  of  the  Greater  An- 
tilles, in  the  West  Indies ;  it  was 
discovered  by  Columbus  in  1493,  and 
was  held  by  Spain  until  its  capture 
by  the  United  States  in  1898.  It  is 
100  miles  long  and  about  40  miles 
in  width,  except  toward  the  eastern 
end,  which  narrows  considerably; 
the  area  is  3,436  square  miles,  and 
it  has,  besides,  several  islands  of 
importance,  of  which  the  largest  is 
Vieques  (100  .square  miles).  Porto 
Rico  is  1,400  miles  from  New  York 
and  less  than  1,000  from  Colon,  Pan- 
ama. It  is  wonderfully  fertile  and 
presents  a  beautiful  appearance. 

A  mountain  range,  with  a  maxi- 
mum height  of  3,800  feet,  traverses 
the  island  from  west  to  east,  and 
there  are  1,300  streams,  of  which 
fifty  may  be  termed  rivers ;  but  none 
are  navigable  for  more  than  a  mile 
or  two  from  the  coast.  The  hilly 
nature  of  the  country  causes  tht 


trade  winds  to  precipitate  their 
moisture  upon  the  northeastern  low- 
lands, where  the  average  rainfall  is 
120  inches,  while  at  San  Juan,  the 
capital,  it  is  but  55  inches.  The 
temperature  varies  between  50  de- 
grees and  100  degrees. 

Although  there  are  40,000  small 
farms,  valued  in  1910  at  more  than 
$102,000,000,  and  60  per  cent  of  the 
workers  are  on  the  soil,  not  much 
more  than  one  fourth  of  the  land  is 
under  cultivation.  The  lowlands 
produce  sugar,  the  hill  slopes  coffee 
and  tobacco;  much  of  the  latter,  of 
superior  quality,  is  grown  under 
cloth.  Other  products  are  sea  island 
cotton,  textile  fibers,  Indian  corn, 
sweet  potatoes,  rice,  maize,  plan- 
tains and  yams.  Grapefruit,  or- 
anges, pineapples,  cocoanuts  and 
other  tropical  fruits  flourish.  Most 
of  the  trade  is  with  the  United 
States.  The  country  south  of  the 
mountain  range  is  not  so  well 


342 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


watered,  but  for  this  district  there 
is  now  under  construction  an  irri- 
gation system,  to  cost  $3,000,000, 
which  will  greatly  increase  the  out- 
put of  the  island.  Molasses  and 
honey  are  products  of  importance, 
but  the  staples  are  sugar  and  coffee, 
the  former  constituting  47  per  cent 
o'f  all  exported  products.  In  1914 
320,633  tons  of  sugar,  valued  at 
$20,240,335,  and  50,211,947  pounds 
of  coffee,  valued  at  $8,193,544,  were 
shipped  from  Porto  Rico. 

Spanish  cedar,  ebony,  rosewood, 
Indian  sandalwood  and  mahogany 
are  all  found  on  the  island,  and  the 
Talauma,  with  its  white,  sweet- 
scented  flowers,  furnishes  a  timber 
locally  known  as  "sabino."  At  least 
twelve  different  plants  are  used  in 
dyeing  and  tanning,  and  the  fruit 
of  the  vijao,  which  grows  in  wild 
luxuriance,  is  used  by  the  natives 
for  ink  and  dyes,  which  are  claimed 
to  be  quite  fast  in  color;  the  root 
of  the  turmeric  also  yields  a  dye 
used  for  hammocks,  ribbons  and 
cloth,  and  this  may  prove  to  have 
commercial  possibilities. 


Porto  Rico  is  poor  in  fauna ;  the 
passing  of  the  armadillo  and  the 
agouti  has  left  only  small  rodents, 
squirrels  and  a  species  of  great 
land  turtle  as  representative  of  the 
four-footed  population.  Of  the  few 
reptiles,  none  are  venomous.  Doves 
and  various  song  birds  frequent  the 
higher  districts;  green  parrots 
abound  in  the  forests;  and  water 
birds,  among  them  the  gaudy  flamin- 
go, are  found  along  the  coasts.  Both 
salt-water  and  fresh-water  fish  are 
caught  in  considerable  quantities. 
Of  the  domestic  animals,  cattle  are 
raised  in  sufficient  numbers  to  form 
an  industry  worthy  of  note. 


Little  is  known  of  the  extent  ol 
the  mineral  resources.  Since  much 
alluvial  gold  was  recovered  by  the 
Spaniards,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer 
that  rich  veins  await  discovery  in 
the  mountains.  Copper,  iron,  tin, 
bismuth,  mercury,  platinum,  nickel 
and  coal  have  been  found,  and  salt 
is  worked  extensively.  This  latter 
is  the  only  mining  enterprise  upon 
an  established  basis. 

San  Juan,  the  capital  city,  has  a 
good  harbor  with  a  fairly  clear  en- 
trance ;  when  improvements  now 
under  way  are  completed  the  en- 
trance will  be  600  yards  wide,  with 
30  feet  of  water.  The  city  had  in 
1910  a  population  of  50,000,  with  a 
town  hall,  a  cathedral,  a  general 
hospital  and  a  theater.  Other  towns 
are  Ponce,  which  had  63,444  popu- 
lation, and  Mayaguez,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  42,429.  The  island  boasts 
74  municipalities,  each  electing  its 
cwn  mayor,  city  council  and  city 
officials. 

Porto  Rico  is  administered  by  a 
Governor  and  an  Executive  Coun- 
cil, appointed  by  the  President  for  a 
four  year  term ;  six  heads  of  depart- 
ments and  five  natives  make  up  the 
Council.  The  Legislative  Assembly 
is  composed  of  two  bodies,  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council  and  a  House  of 
Delegates;  the  seven  electoral  dis- 
tricts each  supply  five  members  to 
the  House  of  Delegates.  A  Resident 
Commissioner  to  the  United  States 
is  also  elected  by  popular  vote  for 
the  term  of  two  years ;  he  takes  his 
seat  in  the  Federal  Congress.  Enact- 
ments of  the  Council  and  the  House 
are  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. The  judiciary  of  the  island 
includes  an  Attorney  General  with 
his  staff,  a  United  States  Court,  and 
a  Supreme  Court  of  five,  all  ap- 
pointed by  the  President;  the  Gov- 
ernor appoints  fifty-nine  justices  of 
the  peace ;  seven  District  Judges  are 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  while 
the  people  elect  to  office  the  judges 
and  officials  of  thirty-four  municipal 
courts. 

The  educational  system  has  been 
much  improved  since  Americans 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


343 


took  charge  of  affairs.  In  1899 
more  than  83  per  cent  of  the  people 
could  neither  read  nor  write.  That 
year  saw  the  complete  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  school  system,  education 
being  made  compulsory.  The  num- 
ber of  common  schools  has  been  in- 
creased from  less  than  800  to  more 
than  4,300,  with  an  enrollment  of 
207,010  in  1914.  There  are  four 
high  and  twenty-five  continuation 
schools,  besides  night  schools,  kin- 
dergartens and  private  schools.  At 
Rio  Piedras,  a  few  miles  from  San 
Juan,  is  situated  the  University  of 
Porto  Rico,  where  students  of  both 
sexes  receive  instruction  in  such 
special  subjects  as  teaching,  science, 
engineering,  medicine,  law,  architec- 
ture and  agriculture;  the  farm  and 
dairy  of  the  University  enable  stu- 
dents to  master  the  practice  as  well 
as  the  theory  of  agriculture,  and  in 
this  the  Government  experiment  sta- 
tion at  Mayaguez  offers  its  whole- 
hearted and  valuable  co-operation. 

In  1892  the  island  possessed  119 
miles  of  railway.  It  now  has  more 
than  220  miles.  This  links  together 
the  towns  of  the  western  coast, 
partly  encircles  the  island,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  opens  up  the  interior. 
It  is  intended  to  extend  the  present 
facilities  until  there  is  a  railroad 
entirely  around  the  island,  and  an- 
other project  is  the  running  of  a 
new  line  across  the  island,  with 
many  branches  and  ramifications. 
There  are  a  thousand  miles  of  tol- 
erable roads  in  Porto  Rico,  600  miles 
of  postal  telegraph  wire,  govern- 
ment owned,  forty  telegraph  stations 
and  80  post  offices.  The  telephone 
is  also  winning  its  way  into  business 
and  social  demand. 

The  population  was  estimated  for 
1914  at  1,184,489,  an  increase  over 
1910  of  66,477.  Of  this  population, 
less  than  50,000  are  negroes,  some 
340,000  are  mulattoes,  and  the  rest 
are  whites.  Almost  nothing  is 
known  of  the  original  inhabitants; 
a  few  of  their  stone  weapons,  im- 
plements and  images,  with  some 
earthenware  fragments,  have  been 
found,  and  are  now  preserved  in  the 


Smithsonian  Institution;  and  at 
Gurabo,  on  the  Rio  Grande  de  Loiza, 
may  be  seen  a  sort  of  monument 
roughly  hewn  in  stone  and  bearing 
a  number  of  mystifying  designs. 

The  revenues  of  Porto  Rico  come 
from  customs  and  excise,  from  the 
tax  on  property,  an  inheritance  tax 


FIRST    FLAG    RAISING    IN    PORTO    RICO 

and  various  fees  and  licenses.  The 
receipts  from  these  sources  for  the 
year  ending  July  1st,  1914,  were 
$10,108,708;  the  property  had  an 
assessed  value  of  $179,271,023.  The 
police  force  numbered  about  700  men 
and  the  military  forces  about  600. 

The  industries  of  Porto  Rico  are 
chiefly  concerned  with  the  produc- 
tion of  embroideries,  drawn  work 
and  hats.  In  1910  there  were  939 
industrial  establishments ;  their 
combined  capital  was  placed  at  $25,- 
544,385,  and  their  output  at  $36,- 
749,742.  These  establishments  em- 
ployed 15,582  work  people.  The 
tonnage  of  American  and  foreign 
vessels  clearing  from  Porto  Rican 
ports  during  the  year  ending  July 
1st,  1914,  was  1,216,909.  The  island 
is  a  port  of  call  for  thirteen  steam- 
ship lines.  In  1914  the  imports  were 
valued  at  $36,406,787  and  the  ex- 
ports at  $43,102,762.  In  1915  the 
exports  to  the  United  States  alone 
reached  a  value  of  $43,311,920. 


344 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


GUAM,  1899 


GUAM,  the  largest  and  most 
southerly  island  of  the  Ladrone 
group,  the  rest  of  which  belongs 
to  Germany,  lies  in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean,  nearly  1,500  miles  east  of  the 
Philippines.  It  was  discovered  by 
Magellan  in  1521,  was  held  by  Spain 
from  1688  to  1898,  and  was  captured 
by  the  U.  S.  cruiser  "Charleston" 
during  our  war  with  Spain.  The 
island  is  29  miles  long,  from  3  to  10 
miles  in  width,  and  its  area  is  210 
square  miles.  The  northern  part 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  large 
plateau,  while  the  southern  portion 
is  hilly,  attaining  a  height  of  1,280 
feet 

The  vegetation  is  luxuriant,  and 
soil  and  climate  are  admirably  suit- 
ed to  agriculture,  but  the  laziness 
of  the  natives  has  prevented  any 
extensive  development  of  this  pur- 
suit. October  to  May  is  the  dry  sea- 
son, although  rain  not  infrequently 
falls.  The  temperature  is  even, 
with  August  and  September  the  hot- 
test months,  the  yearly  mean  tem- 
perature being  about  81  deg.  Fahr. 
Guam  is  occasionally  visited  by  dev- 
astating typhoons  and  earthquake 
shocks  are  not  uncommon.  Trade 
winds  moderate  the  heat  and  condi- 
tions are  generally  milder  than  in 
the  Philippines. 

The  valleys  are  forestrated  with 
valuable  hardwoods.  Food  fruits 
are  the  custard  apple  and  sour  sop, 
the  pineapple  and  the  cocoanut; 
breadfruit  and  bananas  grow  freely. 
The  hau  produces  very  strong  and 
durable  rope ;  the  leaves  of  the  pan- 
danus  are  used  in  braiding  hats  and 


mats ;  the  ylang-ylang  is  well  known 
for  the  perfume  it  yields.  Among 
the  vegetable  products  are  rice, 
maize,  sugar,  cotton,  indigo,  castor 
oil  and  tobacco. 

About  the  only  native  animals  are 
small  rodents,  but  the  roe  and  the 
wild  goat  thrive,  as  do  swine  and 
oxen.  There  are  no  venomous 
snakes  and  the  scorpions  and  centi- 
pedes are  not  dangerous. 

The  population  of  Guam  is  esti- 
mated at  13,000;  the  inhabitants  are 
for  the  most  part  Chamorros  with  a 
mixture  of  Tagal,  Malay  and  Span- 
ish blood,  speaking  a  Malay-Spanish 
dialect,  but  English  is  rapidly  gain- 
ing ground.  The  American  occupa- 
tion is  raising  native  standards. 
The  lepers  have  been  segregated, 
telegraphic  communication  has  been 
improved,  public  schools  established 
and  a  good  hospital  maintained. 
There  is  a  Government  agricultural 
experiment  station  at  Agana,  the 
capital,  which  has  paved  streets, 
sewers  and  a  water  system  and  is 
connected  with  Apra,  the  only  safe 
harbor,  by  a  very  good  road. 

The  commandant  of  the  naval  sta- 
tion acts  as  Governor.  The  island 
has  four  administrative  districts, 
each  with  a  commissioner  as  its 
executive  head.  Peonage  has  been 
abolished  and  courts  of  justice  estab- 
lished. The  1914  imports  were  val- 
ued at  $160,000  and  the  exports  at 
$50,000.  Guam  is  a  port  of  transit 
between  the  United  States  and  the 
Philippines  and  army  transports  call 
there  at  frequent  intervals,  some- 
times monthly. 


SAMOAN  ISLANDS,  1900 


THE  Samoan  group  is  found  in 
the   South   Pacific   Ocean,   420 
miles    northeast    of    the    Fiji 
Islands ;     named     by     Bougainville 
"lies    des    Navigateurs,"    from    the 
natives'     skill     in     handling     their 
canoes,    it    still    appears    on    many 
maps  as  Navigators'  Islands.     The 
whole    group    numbers    thirteen 


islands,  for  the  most  part  mere 
rocky  and  barren  islets.  •  By  the 
Tripartite  Treaty  of  1899,  all  those 
east  of  171  deg.  long,  were  turned 
over  to  the  United  States,  which 
has  had  a  naval  and  coaling  station 
there  since  1872.  Germany  retained 
possession  of  that  portion  of  the 
group  lying  to  the  west  of  this 


UNCLE    SAM'S    NON-CONTIGUOUS    POSSESSIONS 


345 


meridian.  The  United  States  pos- 
sessions comprise  Tutuila,  with  an 
area  of  77  square  miles  and  a  popu- 
lation of  7,300;  Ofu,  Aunua  and 
Olosenga,  having  together  an  area 
of  some  25  square  miles  with  about 
2,000  population;  and  Rose  Island, 
uninhabited. 

Pagopago,  the  capital  of  American 
Samoa,  is  on  the  south  coast  of 
Tutuila ;  its  fine  harbor  almost  di- 
vides the  island  into  two  parts. 
Tutuila  is  the  best  island  of  the 
entire  group,  of  a  mountainous  char- 
acter, but  possessing  extensive 
forests. 

The  natives  of  the  archipelago  are 
forbidden  to  sell  land  to  the  whites, 
but  are  permitted  to  retain  their 
own  laws  and  customs  in  so  far  as 
these  do  not  conflict  with  the  laws 
and  ordinances  established  by  the 
Governor,  who  is  also  the  naval  com- 
mandant. He  is  authorized  to  ap- 
point officers,  regulate  the  police  and 
make  ordinances  dealing  with  such 
matters  as  the  assessment  of  taxes 
and  the  importation  of  spirits.  A 
body  of  seventy-five  men,  under  a 
drill  sergeant  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  constitutes  a  native  guard. 

The  natives  are  of  fine  physique, 
but  are  indolent  and  very  independ- 
ent, and  the  plantations  have  to  be 
worked  by  imported  labor.  Hook- 
worm and  the  yaws  are  prevalent, 
but  a  great  deal  has  been  done 
toward  the  amelioration  of  these 
diseases,  and  much  attention  is  paid 
to  sanitation  and  the  public  health. 

There  are  four  religious  missions, 
\vith  numerous  sectarian  schools ; 


besides  these,  there  is  one  govern- 
ment supported  school  and  another 
largely  maintained  by  the  native 
population.  The  total  number  of 
schools  is  83,  with  2,000  pupils  of 
both  sexes. 

The  political  divisions  are  three — 
the  Eastern,  comprising  eastern 
Tutuila  and  Aunua ;  the  Western, 
which  is  western  Tutuila ;  and  the 
District  of  Manua,  taking  in  Tau 
and  its  neighboring  islets.  Each  dis- 
trict has  its  native  Governor ;  under 
him  are  the  county  chiefs,  and  under 
them  the  chiefs  of  villages.  Each 
village  has  its  own  court. 


The  products  of  American  Samoa 
include  cocoanuts,  cocoa  beans, 
bananas,  breadfruit,  pineapples,  or- 
anges, yams  and  taro,  the  last  being 
a  plant  with  leaves  similar  to  those 
of  the  water-lily,  with  roots  that  are 
baked  and  used  as  food.  Some  cot- 
ton, maize,  sugar  and  coffee  are 
raised  for  local  consumption.  Copra 
(dried  cocoanuts)  and  cocoa  beans 
are  about  the  only  things  exported, 
the  output  of  copra  running  to  1,500 
tons  per  annum ;  this  product  is 
largely  used  as  legal  payment  for 
taxes. 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE,  1904 


THE  Panama  Canal  Zone,  com- 
prising 436  square  miles  of  ter- 
ritory,  was   acquired   by   pur- 
chase, February  26,  1904,  the  sum  of 
$10,000,000   being   paid    to   the   Re- 
public of  Panama.  In  addition,  Pan- 
ama  is   to  receive   an   annual  pay- 
ment of  $250,000  during  the  life  of 
the    treaty,    beginning    nine    years 
after  date  of  ratification. 

The  Canal  Zone  begins  at  a  point 
three  marine  miles  from  mean  low 


water  mark  in  each  ocean  and  ex- 
tends five  miles  on  each  side  of  the 
center  line  of  the  route  of  the  canal. 
It  includes  the  group  of  islands  in 
the  Bay  of  Panama,  named  Perico, 
Naos,  Culebra  and  Flamenco.  The 
cities  of  Panama  and  Colon  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  Zone,  but  the  United 
States  has  the  right  to  enforce  sani- 
tary ordinances  and  maintain  public 
order  there,  in  case  the  Republic  of 
Panama  should  not  be  able  to  do  so. 


PART  II. 

OF  HUMAN  INTEREST  TO  ALL 
UNCLE  SAM'S  PEOPLE 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  AMERICAN  FLAG 

By  ALBERT  A.  HOPKINS 

AND 

INSTRUCTOR  H.  C.  WASHBURN 

U.    S.    NAVAL    ACADEMY,    ANNAPOLIS,    MD. 
FIRST    PART    BY    THE   EDITOR 


FROM  the  earliest  time  the  flag 
has   been   of  prime   importance. 
According     to     Livy     the     cav- 
alry    flag     was     a     square     piece 
of    textile    material    fixed    to    the 
cross   bar   at   the   end   of   a    spear. 
The  Roman  standards  were  guarded 


BLUE 


(tiutes)  (Vei-t)  (Or\ 

RED  GREEN  YELLOW 

SHIELDS  SHOWING  HOW  THE  HERALDIC 

COLORS  ARE  TRANSLATED  INTO 

BLACK   AND   WHITE 

with  the  greatest  care  and  venera- 
tion, and  were  kept  in  the  temples 
of  the  great  cities,  and  alter  the 
advent  of  Christianity  churches  re- 
ceived them.  All  through  mediaeval 


and  modern  history  we  find  the  fas- 
cinating trail  of  the  standard  under 
various  names,  which,  like  the 
"Oriflamtne"  of  France,  have  come 
down  to  us  as  a  valuable  heritage. 
Disregarding  the  history  of  flags 
in  general  we  come  to  our  flag,  which 
is  a  modern  flag  in  every  sense  of 
the  word  ;  it  has  no  myths  or  legends 
connected  with  it,  and  the  Heralds' 
College  has  never  been  invoked  in 
its  design.  Its  bright  colors  are  at- 
tractive and  can  be  seen  long  dis- 
tances, which  is  not  the  case  with 
all  flags.  Love  for  the  flag  has  been 
fostered  by  State,  school  and  church, 
so  that  nothing  is  more  venerated  in 
this  country  than  the  "Stars  and 
Stripes."  Great  care  has  been  taken 
by  the  Federal  and  State  govern- 
ments to  give  the  greatest  possible 
protection  for  the  national  emblem; 
thirty-four  States  have  legislation  to 
preserve  the  American  Flag  from 
desecration,  mutilation  or  improper 
use.  The  national  flag  must  not  be 
used  for  advertising,  as  a  cover  for 
a  magazine,  and  the  statutes  of  the 
United  States  forbid  the  use  of  the 
flag  as  a  trade  mark. 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


348 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


The  settlements  in  the  thirteen 
original  States  were  largely  English, 
and  the  ceremonial  flags  of  the  col- 
onies took  the  form  of  the  English 
national  standard  of  the  period.  In 
1643  the  colonies  of  Plymouth,  Mass- 
achusetts Bay,  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven  formed  an  alliance  called  the 
"United  Colonies  of  New  England," 
and  in  1686  they  adopted  the  cross 
of  St.  George  with  a  gilt  crown  over 
the  monogram  of  James  II. 


HEW  ENGLAND  COLORS,  1686 

As  early  as  1700  the  colonies  be- 
gan to  use  flags  of  their  own  design, 
the  "pine  tree"  flag  of  New  England 
being  an  example.  There  are  vari- 
ous forms  of  this  flag.  In  one  in- 


PINE    TREE    FLAG    OF    NEW   ENGLAND 


stance  the  ground  was  blue  with  the 
cross  of  St.  George  in  the  center  and 


a  pine  tree  in  the  first  quarter.  This 
flag  may  have  been  used  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Bunker  Hill.  Another  varia- 
tion was  a  flag  with  a  white  ground 
and  a  green  pine  tree  in  the  center. 


FLAG    USED    AT    THE    BATTLE    OF 
BUNKER   HILL  (  ?) 

The  rattlesnake  was  another  favor- 
ite symbol  in  the  Southern  colonies, 
and  there  are  many  variations  of  this 
flag,  but  the  head  of  the  snake  must 


THE    RATTLESNAKE    FLAG    OF    SOUTH 
CAROLINA 

always  face  the  staff.  The  motto 
is  usually  "Don't  tread  on  me." 
South  Carolina  had  a  yellow  flag 
with  the  snake  on  it. 

An  early  flag  displayed  in  the 
South  was  a  dark  blue  flag  with  a 
white  crescent,  and  was  raised  at 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  on  September  13, 
1775.  The  word  "Liberty"  was  a 
later  addition  and  was  used  at  the 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


349 


historic  defense  of  Fort  Sullivan 
(now  Fort  Moultrie),  Charleston 
Harbor,  June,  1776. 


These  flags,  so  interesting  to  stu- 
dents of  colonial  history,  were  not, 
however,  strictly  speaking,  the  fore- 
runners of  the  "Stars  and  Stripes." 
The  flag,  as  we  have  it  to-day,  is  the 
result  of  an  evolution.  The  most 
prominent  features  of  the  flag  are 


THE    CRESCENT    FLAG    OF    FORT    SULLI- 
VAN,  CHARLESTON  HARBOR,    1776 


EARLY  AMERICAN  FLAG  OF  THE  REVO- 
LUTION IN  THE  SOUTH,   CHARLES- 
TON,   S.    C. 
Same   as  Long  Island   Battle   Flag 

C 


FLAG    OF    THE    ENGLISH    EAST    INDIA 
COMPANY 

the  bars.  These  are  not  original, 
however,  as  we  find  them  in  the  flag 
of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company, 
and  in  1704  the  ships  of  the  English 
East  India  Company  carried  flags 
with  thirteen  red  and  white  stripes 
and  the  cross  of  St.  George  in  the 
canton. 


FLAG   OF   THE   DUTCH   WEST   INDIA 
COMPANY 


FLAG  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  TROOP  OF 
LIGHT  HORSE,   1775 


350 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


It  has  also  been  suggested  that 
the  arms  of  Washington  may  have 
suggested  the  original  form  of  our 
flag,  but  there  seems  nothing  to  sub- 
stantiate it.  The  first  known  in- 
stance of  the  use  of  stripes  was  in 
the  flag  of  the  Philadelphia  Troop  of 
Light  Horse,  1775. 

This  may  have  been  suggested  by 
the  "Cambridge  Flag,"  which  Wash- 
ington raised  at  Cambridge  on  Janu- 
ary 2,  1776.  This  was  truly  the  first 
American  flag  to  show  in  concrete 
form  the  union  of  the  colonies. 

There  were  thirteen  alternate 
stripes  of  red  and  white,  and  in  the 
canton  was  the  combined  crosses  of 
St.  George  and  St.  Andrew.  It  is 
variously  called  the  "Grand  Union 
Flag,"  the  "Great  Union  Flag,"  and 
the  "Union  Flag."  The  name  "Cam- 


upholsterer    who    was    the    reputed 
maker  of  our  first  flag. 


CONTINENTAL   OR    GRAND   UNION   FLAG 
RAISED  AT  CAMBRIDGE  JAN.  2,  1776 

bridge  Flag,"  however,  appears  to 
stick,  and  is  eminently  appropriate. 
This  flag  continued  to  be  used  until 
the  Continental  Congress  adopted 
the  "Stars  and  Stripes."  The  so- 
called  "Betsy  Ross"  flag,  or  the  first 
"Stars  and  Stripes,"  is  enmeshed 
with  much  romance,  but  the  testi- 
mony as  to  the  events  rests  pretty 
largely  on  the  statements  of  Mrs. 
Ross  herself  and  these  are  not  sup- 
ported by  contemporary  writers.  Her 
house  still  exists  at  239  Arch  Street, 
Philadelphia,  and  is  cared  for  by 
the  American  Flag  House  and  Betsy 
Ross  Memorial  Association,  and  is 
a  memorial  to  the  little  widowed 


WHITE   PLAINS   BATTLE   FLAG 
OCT.  28,   1776 

The  facts,  however,  seem  to  have 
been  these :  On  June  14,  1777,  the 
American  Congress  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  flag  of  the  thirteen 
United  States  be  thirteen  stripes,  alter- 
nate red  and  white ;  that  the  Union  be 
thirteen  stars,  white  on  a  blue  field,  rep 
resenting  a  new  constellation. 


THE    FIRST    NATIONAL    FLAG    OF 
UNITED    STATES,    ADOPTED 
JUNE    14,    1777 


THE 


John  Adams  has  the  credit  of  pro- 
posing the  committee  that  framed 
the  resolution.  Washington  is  said 
to  have  remarked,  "We  take  the 
star  from  Heaven,  the  red  from  our 
mother  country,  separating  it  by 
white  stripes,  thus  showing  that  we 
have  separated  from  her,  and  the 
white  stripes  shall  go  down  to  pos- 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


351 


terity  representing  liberty."  This 
is  pure  bombast  and  is  probably 
apocryphal. 

The  design  was  not  officially  pro- 
mulgated until  September  3,  1777. 
The  stars  were  first  arranged  in  a 
circle,  but  this  gave  way  to  three 
horizontal  lines  of  four,  five  and 
four  stars.  This  remained  the  na- 
tional emblem  until  May  1,  1795, 
when  two  more  stripes  and  two  more 
stars  were  added  for  Vermont  and 
Kentucky. 

"The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  was 
written  by  Francis  Scott  Key  (1779- 
1843).  This  national  lyric  was  in- 


approached   under   a   flag   of   truce, 
when   he   was   held   temporarily   on 


MANUSCRIPT  OF  THE  "STAR  SPANGLED 
BANNER" 

From  Treble's  "History  of  Die  Flag  of  tlie  United  States  of 
America."     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  Publishers. 

spired  when  he  witnessed  the  bom- 
bardment of  Fort  McHenry,  Septem- 
ber 13,  1814.  He  was  trying  to  ob- 
tain the  release  of  a  friend  who  had 
been  captured  by  the  British.  Key 
was  on  this  expedition,  which  had 


THE    ORIGINAL    STAR    SPANGLED 

BANNER 
(Note   fifteen   stripes) 


-0»tt.  *«.  itab  ««  thrwtflta  •!«.  of 

•'.IVkJTS'fa.'. h»|bi««fi>  4..U  *• 

j  JrjToS^I,  U»  bfM.. .»  IM  <«- 


FIRST    PUBLICATION    "STAR    SPANGLED 
BANNER" 


352 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


his  vessel,  lest  he  disclose  the  in- 
tended attack  on  Baltimore.  He  was 
compelled,  therefore,  to  witness  the 
bombardment  through  the  whole  day 
and  night,  and  when  he  saw  the 
national  emblem  still  floating  in  the 
breeze  in  the  morning,  his  muse  com- 
pelled him  to  write  this  national 
anthem.  The  song  was  first  pub- 
lished in  the  Baltimore  American, 
September  21,  1814.  Originally,  the 
song  was  written  on  the  back  of  a 
letter  and  was  copied  out  in  full 
at  night,  in  a  hotel  in  Baltimore. 
It  was  struck  off  in  handbill  form 
and  its  popularity  was  widespread. 
Ferdinand  Durang  fitted  the  music 
of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven"  to  the 
words. 

This  remained  the  national  flag 
for  twenty-three  years.  It  was  used 
during  the  war  of  1812.  By  1818 
five  additional  States  were  added; 
Tennessee,  Ohio,  Louisiana,  Indiana 
and  Mississippi  were  admitted  into 
the  Union,  so  that  further  changes 
in  the  flag  were  required.  The  act 
of  April  4,  1818,  provided  first,  "That 
from  and  after  the  fourth  day  of 
July,  next,  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  be  thirteen  horizontal  stripes, 
alternate  red  and  white;  that  the 
union  have  twenty  stars,  white  in 
a  blue  field."  Second,  "That  on  the 


FLAG    OF    TWENTY    STARS    AND    THIR- 
TEEN  STRIPES 


admission  of  every  new  State  into 
the  Union  one  star  be  added  to  the 
union  of  the  flag;  and  that  such  ad- 
dition shall  take  effect  on  the  4th 
of  July,  next,  succeeding  such  ad- 


mission." The  return  to  the  thir- 
teen stripes  was  due  not  only  to  a 
reverence  for  the  flag  of  the  Revo- 
lution but  also  to  the  fact  that  a 
further  increase  in  the  number  of 
stripes  would  have  thrown  the  flag 
out  of  balance,  or  would  have  made 
the  stripes  so  thin  that  they  would 
be  indistinct  at  a  distance. 

Since  this  time  no  change  has  been 
made  in  the  flag  except  to  add  stars 
as  required.  In  the  war  with  Mex- 
ico the  flag  had  twenty-nine  stars  in 
the  union,  thirty-five  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  since  July  4,  1912, 
forty-eight  stars.  Considerable  con- 
fusion existed  as  to  the  way  the 
stars  should  be  placed.  The  official 
arrangement  followed  by  the  Army 
and  Navy  is  as  follows : 


THE   "STARS  AND  STRIPES"   OF  TO-DAY 

"America"  was  written  by  the 
Rev.  S.  Francis  Smith,  D.D.  Dr. 
Lowell  Mason,  one  of  the  fathers  of 
music  in  this  country,  turned  over 
to  Dr.  Smith  some  foreign  music  and 
asked  him  if  he  found  anything  par- 
ticularly good  to  write  words  for 
the  music.  The  latter  found  the  tune 
of  "God  Save  the  King,"  and  wrote 
the  remarkable  lyric  at  Andover, 
Mass.,  in  February,  1832.  It  was 
struck  out  at  a  sitting  with  no  idea 
of  its  future  popularity.  The  first 
time  it  was  publicly  sung  was  at  a 
children's  celebration  of  American 
Independence,  at  the  Park  Street 
Church,  Boston,  July  4,  1832. 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


353 


The  Confederate  flags  are  of  con- 
siderable interest.  The  first  was 
known  as  the  "Stars  and  Bars." 
This  was  adopted  at  Montgomery, 
March  4,  1861,  the  day  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  inaugurated.  It  was 
found  that  this  flag  was  too  much 


THE  FIRST  CONFEDERATE  FLAG, 
"STARS  AND  BARS" 


THE 


ORIGINAL   MS.    OF    "AMERICA" 

From  Treble's  "History  of  the  Flag  of  the  United 
States."     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Cu.,  Publishers. 


During  the  Civil  War  the  flag 
came  in  for  much  attention  and  the 
stirring  words  of  Secretary  Dix  may 
be  reproduced  herewith: 


SECOND  FLAG  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 


354 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


THIRD  FLAG   OF   THE   CONFEDERACY 

like  the  flag  of  the  North  to  be 
readily  distinguished,  so  a  second 
flag  was  adopted,  May,  1863. 

This  also  was  found  to  be  objec- 
tionable, having  the  appearance  of 
a  flag  of  truce,  so  a  broad  transverse 
strip  of  red  was  added,  so  we  have 
the  third  flag  of  the  Confederacy. 
This  was  adopted  February  4,  1865, 
The  real  battle  flag  was  like  the  one 
pictured  below. 


BATTLE  FLAG  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 

Our  flag  now  waves  over  a  united 
country  and  over  colonial  possessions 
of  vast  territory  and  wealth,  and  has 
also  waved  over  Morro  Castle,  when 
we  set  the  Cubans  free,  but  it  did 
not  remain  over  that  historic  struc- 


ture, for  we  did  not  invade  Cuba 
with  any  thought  of  conquest  but 
to  free  her  from  the  oppressor. 

WHEN  AND  HOW  TO  DISPLAY  THE  FLAG 

OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

(Copyright  6t/  Louis  Annin  Ames) 

HOLIDAYS 

Lincoln  Birthday February  12th. 

Washington's  Birthday..February  22nd. 

Jefferson    Day April  17th. 

Battle    of    LexingtonApril  19th. 
(Patriots'   Day) 

'Memorial   Day May  30th. 

Flag    Day. June  14th. 

Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.. June  17th. 

Independence   Day July  4th. 

La  Fayette    Day September  6th. 

"Star      Spangled      Ban- 
ner" Day  (Baltimore)  September  13th. 

Paul  Jones  Day September    23rd. 

Columbus  Day October  12th. 

Battle   of   Saratoga October  17th. 


UNITED  STATES  FLAG  FLYING  OVER 
MORRO  CASTLE,  HAVANA,  CUBA 

Surrender  of  Yorktown  .October  19th. 
Evacuation    Day     (New 

York)    November  25th 

*On  Memorial  Day,  May  30th,  the 
Flag  should  fly  at  half  staff  from  sun- 
rise to  noon,  and  full  staff  from  noon  to 
sunset. 

STARS    AND    STRIPES 

is  the  official  name  of  the  national  flag 
of  the  United  States.  In  the  Army  our 
national  flag  is  called  the  Standard,  also 
the  Colors.  When  borne  with  another 
flag,  the  regimental  color,  the  two  flags 
are  called  a  "Stand  of  Colors."  In  the 
Navy  our  national  flag  is  known  as  the 
United  States  Ensign. 

To  show  proper  respect  for  the  flag 
the  following  should  be  observed : 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


355 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE   KEY   HOUSE,    GEORGETOWN 

DISPLAY 

The  flag  should  not  be  hoisted  before 
sunrise  nor  allowed  to  remain  up  after 
sunset. 

At  "Retreat"  sunset,  civilian  specta- 
tors should  stand  at  "attention"  and  un- 
cover during  the  playing  of  the  "Star 
Spangled  Banner."  Military  spectators 
are  required  by  Regulation  to  stand  at 
"attention"  and  give  the  military  salute. 
During  the  playing  of  the  National  Hymn 
at  "Retreat"  the  flag  should  be  lowered 
but  not  then  allowed  to  touch  the 
ground. 

When  the  flag  is  flown  at  half  staff 
as  a  sign  of  mourning,  it  should  be 
hoisted  to  full  staff  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  funeral. 

In  placing  the  flag  at  half  staff,  it 
should  first  be  hoisted  to  the  top  of 
the  staff  and  then  lowered  to  position, 
dropping  it  from  the  top  of  the  staff 
the  distance  of  the  width  of  the  flag, 
and  preliminary  to  lowering  from  half 
staff,  it  should  first  be  raised  to  the 
top. 

On  ship  board  the  national  flag  is  the 
flag  to  be  raised  first  and  lowered 
last. 

Where  several  flags  are  displayed  on 
poles  with  the  national  flag,  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  should  be  hoisted  first 
and  on  the  tallest  and  most  con- 
spicuous staff.  Where  two  flags  are 
dislayed,  one  our  National  flag,  it  should 
be  placed  on  the  right.  (To  ascertain 
the  right  of  a  building,  face  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  building.)  No  flag 
should  ever  be  flown  from  the  same 
staff  as  the  United  States  flag,  except  in 
the  Navy;  then  only  during  Divine  Ser- 
vice, when  the  Church  Pennant  may  be 
displayed  above  the  national  flag — God 
above  Country. 


When,  in  parade,  the  national  flag  is 
carried  with  any  other  flag,  it  should 
have  the  place  of  honor,  at  the  right. 
If  a  number  of  flags  are  carried,  the 
national  flag  should  either  precede  the 
others  or  be  carried  in  the  center,  above 
the  others,  on  a  higher  staff. 

When  flags  are  used  in  unveiling  a 
monument,  tablet  or  statue,  they  should 
not  fall  to  the  ground,  but  be  carried 
aloft,  forming  a  distinctive  feature  of 
the  ceremony. 

When  the  national  flag  is  used  as  a 
banner  the  union  should  be  at  the  right 
(as  you  face  the  flag).  When  used  as 
an  altar  covering,  the  union  is  at  the 
right  (as  you  face  the  altar),  and  noth- 
ing should  ever  be  placed  upon  the  flag 
except  the  Holy  Bible. 

The  flag  should  never  be  flown  re- 
versed except  in  case 'of  distress  at  sea. 

PORTRAYING    THE    FLAG 

To  properly  illustrate  the  flag,  the 
staff  should  always  be  at  the  left  of  the 
picture  with  the  flag  floating  to  the 
right.  When  two  flags  are  crossed,  the 
national  flag  should  be  at  the  right.  If 
the  national  flag  is  pictured  as  a  ban- 
ner, the  union  is  at  the  right. 

SALUTE 
When  the  National  colors  are  passing 


THE  CHURCH  PENNANT  ONLY  MAY  FLY 
ABOVE  THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES 


356 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


in  parade  or  in  review,  the  spectator 
should,  if  walking,  halt,  and  if  sitting, 
arise  and  stand  at  "attention"  and  un- 
cover. 

The  national  salute  is  one  gun  for 
every  State. 

The  international  salute  is,  under  the 
Law  of  Nations,  21  guns. 


On  shore  the  flag  should  not  be  dipped 
by  way  of  salute  or   compliment. 

ORAL     FLAG     SALUTE 

"I  pledge  allegiance  to  my  flag  and  to 
the  Republic  for  which  it  stands  ; 

One  nation,  indivisible,  with  liberty  and 
justice  for  all." 


Trimming  the  Stars 


Zig-zagging 
MAKING  AMERICAN  FLAGS 


Striping 


Courtesy  of  the 
Int.  Film  Co. 
MRS.   VERNON  CASTLE   AS   BETSY  ROSS 


PART  II. 

THE   TROPHY   FLAGS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES   NAVY 

By    Instructor   H.    C.    WASHBURN 

U.    S.     NAVAL   ACADEMY 


AT    the    United     States    Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  Maryland, 
is    the    greatest    collection    of 
naval    trophy    flags    in    the    world. 


seas,  victories  won  by  the  consist- 
ently maintained  skill  and  efficiency, 
as  well  as  by  the  traditional  daring 
and  devotion  to  duty,  of  our  officers 


BRITISH  ROYAL   STANDARD 

This  gorgeous  blazoning  of  the  arms  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  together  with  the  arms  of  the  Hanoverian  dominions 
in  Brunswick,  Lunenburg  and  Saxony,  is  said  to  be  "the  only 
British  Royal  Standard  ever  captured  in  battle."  And  indeed, 
this  great  standard,  which  measures  thirty  feet  by  twenty-five, 
was  taken  at  the  attack  on  York  (now  Toronto),  when  that  place, 
then  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada,  was  captured  by  the  squadron 
under  Commodore  Isaac  Chauncey  and  a  land  force  under  Gen- 
eral Pike,  April  27,  1813.  Nevertheless,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  royal  standard  has  for  centuries  ceased  to  be 
a  battle  flag,  that  it  is  used  primarily  to  signify  the  presence 
of  the  sovereign,  and  that  it  was  found  at  the  Parliament  House 
at  York,  where  it  awaited  the  visit  of  a  member  of  the  royal 
family.  It  was  in  retaliation  for  Chauncey's  raid  on  York,  and 
more  especially,  perhaps,  for  the  taking  of  the  Royal  Standard 
from  the  Parliament  House,  that  the  British  sent  General  Ross's 
army  against  Washington  in  1814,  and  burned  the  public  buildings 
at  our  capital. 


These  old  flags,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  in  number,  are  the 
priceless  symbols  of  our  long  honor 
roll  of  heroic  victories  on  the  high 


and  men.  Flags  of  Great  Britain,  of 
France,  Spain,  Mexico  and  Korea; 
United  States  ensigns  flown  on 
ships  of  renown ;  in  one  instance 


358 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


the  Stars  and  Stripes  side  by 
side  with  the  Stars  and  Bars  of  the 
Confederacy ;  their  age,  their  faded 
colors,  and  the  security  of  their  re- 
pose as  they  hang  in  draped  folds 


of  the  nation  has  been  maintained 
by  a  navy  whose  traditions  are  im- 
perishable. 

Since  1847,  the  gradually  increas- 
ing collection  of  trophies  has  been 


DONTGIVEUP 

THE  SHIP 


THE    BATTLE    FLAG    OF    LAKE    ERIE 

In  the  Flag  Room  at  Annapolis,  whose  high  ceiling  and  walls 
are  ablaze  with  captured  trophies,  the  place  of  honor  is  assigned 
to  the  "DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP"  flag;  its  message  and  its 
story  are  woven  through  the  threadbare  strands  of  every  flag 
in  the  collection.  This  battle  flag  of  the  squadron  under  Master 
Commandant  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  and  his  signal  for  going  into 
action,  was  flown  successively  on  his  flagships  the  "Lawrence"  and 
the  "Niagara,"  at  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  September  10,  1818. 
Made  at  Erie  by  Perry's  order,  at  the  suggestion  of  Purser  Samuel 
Hambleton,  it  bears  on  a  dark  blue  field,  in  white  letters 
rudely  fashioned  by  the  hands  of  jack  tars,  the  dying  words 
of  Captain  James  Lawrence,  mortally  wounded  in  the  action 
between  the  United  States  frigate  "Chesapeake"  and  the  British 
frigate  "Shannon."  When  the  British  squadron  came  in  sight  of 
Perry's  men,  their  commander  jumped  on  a  gun-slide,  and  ad- 
dressed the  crew  of  the  flagship:  "My  brave  lads,  this  flag 
bears  the  words  of  Captain  Lawrence.  Shall  I  hoist  it?"  .  Wild 
cheers  from  their  bared  throats  were  echoed  from  the  other 
ships  of  the  squadron  as  the  bunting  was  run  up  to  the  main- 
royal  masthead.  The  men  took  their  places  at  the  guns.  In  the 
battle  that  ensued,  Perry  saved  the  Great  West,  and  won  a 
complete  victory,  which  enabled  him  to  send  his  famous  message 
to  General  Harrison:  "We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are 
ours — two  ships,  two  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop."  The 
flags  of  all  these  vessels  are  in  the  Navy  Collection,  but  the 
commanding  position  is  assigned  to  this  battle  flag,  with  its 
message:  "DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP!" 


behind  the  glass  of  their  exhibition 
cases,  are  significant  reminders  that 
we  are  at  peace  with  those  who  in 
the  past  were  enemies,  and  signifi- 
cant object  lessons  chat  the  honor 


kept  at  the  Naval  Academy,  where, 
for  many  years,  the  flags  were  exhib- 
ited in  the  old  Naval  Institute  Hall. 
In  1900,  however,  when  this  building 
was  about  to  be  torn  down,  the 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


trophies  were  packed  in  sealed 
boxes,  to  await  the  day  when  they 
should  be  properly  preserved,  and 
placed  on  exhibition  in  the  new 
buildings  of  the  Naval  Academy,  in 
which  alcoves  and  paneled  spaces 
had  been  planned  for  their  recep- 
tion. 

It  was  known  that  the  flags,  when 
packed  away,  were  in  poor  condi- 
tion, and  it  was  feared  that  in  spite 
of  all  precautions  they  would  be 
damaged  by  moths.  Efforts  to  have 


ings  and  grounds  at  the  Naval  Aca- 
demy, began  a  correspondence  which 
included  the  naval  committees  of 
Congress,  patriotic  societies,  and  the 
custodians  of  flag  collections  the 
world  over.  In  the  course  of  this 
correspondence,  a  letter  was  received 
from  the  Hon.  Curtis  Guild,  ex-Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  in  which 
Governor  Guild  named  as  his  choice 
of  an  expert  on  flag  preservation 
Mrs.  Amelia  Fowler,  of  Boston.  At 
the  request  of  Commander  Cole,  Mrs. 


JACK    OF    THE    BRITISH    FRIGATE     "GUERRIERE" 

The  "Guerriere,"  Captain  James  Richard  Dacres,  was  defeated  and  cap- 
tured by  the  famous  "Constitution,"  Captain  Isaac  Hull,  on  August  19, 
1812,  in  the  first  of  the  frigate  actions  of  our  second  war  with  Great 
Britain.  "The  sea-spell  of  England  was  broken,"  and  although  the 
"Constitution"  herself  fought  two  more  splendid  actions  under  the  command 
of  Bainbridge  and  Stewart  respectively,  against  the  "Java,"  and  against 
the  "Cyane"  and  the  "Levant,"  the  American  people  have  never  forgotten 
the  first  flush  of  pride  which  they  felt  when  they  heard  the  news  of 
Hull's  triumph.  Among  all  the  single-ship  victories  won  by  American 
naval  officers  in  the  War  of  1812,  the  classic  of  the  honor  roll  is  the 
fight  between  the  ship  we  have  come  to  love  as  "Old  Ironsides"  and  His 
Majesty's  ship  "Guerriere." 


them  put  in  a  permanent  state  of 
preservation  were,  however,  unsuc- 
cessful, until  1911. 

To  Commander  William  Carey 
Cole,  U.S.N.,  more  than  to  any  other 
individual,  but  also  to  Captain  John 
H.  Gibbons,  U.S.N.,  then  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Naval  Academy,  who 
supported  Commander  Cole  in  his 
work,  is  due  the  credit  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  restoration  of 
the  flags.  Early  in  1911  Commander 
Cole,  as  officer  in  charge  of  build- 


Fowler  examined  the  flags  in  April, 
1911.  She  found  them  so  seriously 
damaged  by  the  ravages  of  moths, 
as  well  as  the  decay  of  age,  that 
no  ordinary  method  of  preservation 
would  suffice  to  insure  their  perma- 
nent existence.  She  accepted  the 
contract  for  their  preservation. 

Her  special  process  consisted  in 
spreading  the  tattered  remnants  of 
each  flag  upon  a  backing  of  heavy 
Irish  linen  of  neutral  color.  This 
delicate  work  was  guided  by  the 


360 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


original  measurement  of  the  flag,  by 
a  knowledge  of  its  design,  and  by 
placing  in  lines  at  right  angles  the 
disarranged  strands  of  the  warp  and 
woof  threads  in  the  fragments  of 
bunting.  What  remained  of  the 
original  flag  was  then  sewn  firmly 
to  the  linen  backing  by  needlewomen, 
under  Mrs.  Fowler's  instruction  and 


the  original,  the  stitches,  dyed  to 
match  the  adjacent  edges  of  the  old 
bunting,  complete  the  design  of  the 
flag,  and  tell  graphically  the  story 
of  the  pieces  that  are  gone. 

On  April  8,  1912,  Congress  passed 
an  act  appropriating  $30,000  for  the 
work  of  preservation  and  prepara- 
tion for  exhibition.  Shortly  before 


ENSIGN    OF    THE    CONFEDERATE    STATES    RAM 
"ALBEMARLE" 

This  is  the  only  Confederate  flag  placed  on  exhibition  in 
the  great  trophy  collection  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and 
it  has  been  placed  side  by  side  with  the  ensign  of  the 
United  States  sloop-of-war  "Kearsarge,"  to  symbolize  the  Union 
of  the  North  and  the  South.  The  "Albemarle,"  long  the  terror 
of  her  enemy's  wooden  vessels,  was  sunk  with  a  spar 
torpedo  handled  from  a  picket  launch  by  Lieutenant  William 
Barker  Gushing,  at  Plymouth,  Roanoke  River,  North  Carolina, 
on  the  night  of  October  27,  1864.  Gushing,  "the  bravest  of 
the  brave,"  whose  intrepid  deed  matches  if  it  does  not 
excel  the  burning  of  the  "Philadelphia"  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli 
by  Stephen  Decatur,  by  this  one  stroke  put  an  end  to  the 
war  in  North  Carolina.  His  well-nigh  miraculous  survival 
enabled  him  to  see  this  trophy  of  his  exploit,  the  flag  flown 
on  the  "Albemarle,"  which  was  taken  shortly  after  his  exploit, 
at  the  capture  of  Plymouth  by  the  Union  army. 


guidance.  The  stitches,  of  silk  or 
linen  thread,  cover  the  entire  sur- 
face of  the  flag,  with  circular 
meshes — a  network  very  strong,  yet 
hardly  visible,  since  the  thread  is 
carefully  dyed  to  match  the  colors 
of  the  old  flag,  however  faded  or 
stained  in  varying  degrees.  Where 
there  are  gaps  or  missing  parts  in 


this  act  was  passed,  Commander 
Cole  held  up,  before  the  members  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  as  an 
impressive  witness,  the  disintegrat- 
ing fragments  of  Oliver  Hazard 
Perry's  battle-flag,  the  signal  for 
going  into  action  at  Lake  Erie, 
which  bears  the  dying  words  of 
James  Lawrence,  "Don't  Give  up 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG 


861 


the  Ship."  The  sight  of  this  trophy 
in  such  a  deplorable  condition  was 
a  final  argument  for  the  appropria- 
tion to  which  the  House  and  the 
Senate  could  not  but  respond,  and 
to  which  they  responded  with  ad- 
mirable generosity. 

On  July  12,  1912,  Mrs.  Fowler's 
needlewomen,  who  averaged  forty 
in  number  began  the  arduous  labor 
of  sewing  over  by  hand  every  square 


on  the  ground  that  the  honor  of 
cataloguing  the  collection  fell  to  me, 
and  as  some  account  of  the  work  of 
cataloguing,  which  occupied  two 
years,  is  also  requested,  it  seems 
•proper  to  state  that  Commander 
Cole  entrusted  to  me  the  work  of 
verifying  the  identity  of  all  the 
flags,  discovering,  if  possible,  the 
data  concerning  certain  flags  of  un- 
known history,  settling  questions  of 


ADMIRAL    FARRAGUT'S    FLAG 

This  is  the  last  flag  hoisted  by  Admiral  David  Glasgow 
Farragut,  conqueror  of  the  Mississippi  and  victor  of  New 
Orleans  and  Mobile  Bay.  It  was  flown  at  the  masthead 
of  U.S.S.  "Tallapoosa,"  his  last  command,  and  was  hung 
at  half-mast  during  the  naval  obsequies  of  George  Pea- 
body,  at  Portland,  Maine.  Looking  up  at  this  flag  as 
a  salute  was  fired  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  in 
Admiral  Farragut's  honor,  he  remarked,  "It  would  be 
well  if  I  died  now,  in  harness."  He  died  shortly  after- 
ward, on  August  14,  1870.  Until  very  recently,  when 
Congress  established  the  rank  of  Admiral,  the  only  officers 
of  our  naval  service  who  flew  the  flag  with  four  stars 
were  Farragut,  David  Dixon  Porter,  and  George  Dewey. 


inch  of  the  flags.  Some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  will  be  had 
when  it  is  explained  that  the  col- 
lection contains  no  less  than  15,00u 
square  yards  of  bunting.  The  flags 
were  completely  restored,  and  placed 
on  exhibition  with  great  skill,  by 
May  16,  1913.  The  work  had  occu- 
pied ten  months. 

As  I  have  been  asked  to  write  an 
account  of  the  flags  for  this  book 


the  best  plan  of  exhibition,  and 
writing  the  official  inscriptions,  or 
the  catalogue  proper.  When  I  took 
up  this  work,  I  found  confronting 
me  a  task  difficult  in  some  ways,  if 
not  impossible.  Evidence  was  not 
lacking  that  a  considerable  number 
of  the  flags  had  been  confused  with 
other  flags.  To  mention  a  few  of  these 
cases — since  corrected  in  every  in- 
stance— the  ensign  of  the  British 


362 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


frigate  Cyane  was  listed  as  the  en- 
sign of  the  Guerridre,  and  the  jack 
of  the  Guerriere  was  listed  as  the 
jack  of  the  Cyane;  there  were  five 
other  errors  in  the  identity  of  Brit- 
ish flags ;  even  flags  captured  during 
the  Spanish  War  had  been  incor- 


inscriptions  on  the  hoists  of  the 
flags,  by  eliminating  each  certainty 
in  identification  as  it  appeared,  and 
by  collecting  all  possible  information 
from  individuals  who  knew  certain 
flags,  the  problem  narrowed  down 
to  three  or  four  cases.  At  last,  these 


ENSIGN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  BATTLESHIP   "MAINE" 

The  battleship  "Maine,"  commanded  by  Captain  Charles 
Dwight  Sigsbee,  was  blown  up  while  at  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  Havana,  Cuba,  on  the  night  of  February  15,  1898. 
This  flag — its  colors  intermingled  by  the  action  of  salt  water — 
was  recovered  from  a  locker  of  the  "Maine"  after  her 
destruction.  It  is  thought  to  be  the  flag  lowered  at  sunset 
on  the  evening  of  February  15,  1898.  So  far  as  is  known, 
no  poem  has  been  written  about  the  flag  of  the  "Maine"  to 
stir  the  hearts  of  Americans.  Perhaps  there  is  no  need  of 
a  poem  to  summon  up  the  memory  of  that  ship;  monuments 
attest  the  fame  of  her  gallant  dead,  and  her  flag  stands 
among  the  trophies  of  the  Navy — symbol  of  the  honorable 
keeping  of  a  nation's  word,  disclaiming  desire  for  conquest, 
and  of  the  freedom  of  Cuba. 


rectly  labeled  and  numbered.  The 
old  catalogue,  published  in  1888,  was 
untrustworthy,  and  subsequent  er- 
rors had  made  it  virtually  useless. 
Gradually,  by  dint  of  gathering  all 
the  evidence  available  in  the  form  of 


were  disposed  of  by  the  discovery 
of  some  old  drawings  and  photo- 
graphs. In  the  course  of  this  work, 
the  history  of  all  but  two  of  the 
flags  of  unknown  history  was  dp 
termined. 


CHAPTER  II. 
AERONAUTICS 

BY  BARON  L.  D'ORCY,  Mem.   S.  A.  E. 


Static  and  Dynamic  Aircraft — The  Drift  Balloon — Captive  and  Kite  Bal- 
loons— Dirigible  Balloons — History  and  Mechanics  of  the  Aeroplane — 
The  Development  of  Military  Aviation — Scouting  Aeroplanes — Fighting 
Aeroplanes  —  Bombing  Aeroplanes  —  The  Seaplane  —  Aeronautics  in 
America 

STATIC   AND   DYNAMIC    AIRCRAFT 

i.  e.,  static  aircraft,  is  called  aerosta- 
tion; its  vehicles  are  the  drift  bal- 
loon, the  kite  balloon  and  the  di- 
rigible balloon,  all  of  which,  it 
should  be  noted,  possess  the  faculty 
of  staying  aloft  without  expending 
motive  power.  The  science  dealing 


ERONAUTICS,   the  science  of 
aerial  navigation,  and  its  vehi- 
cles, generically  termed  aircraft, 
subdivide  into  two  distinct  branches 
and  types,  respectively.    The  science 
dealing    with    machines    which    are 
supported  by  a  gas  lighter  than  air, 


Photo  Hollinger 

WILBUR    WRIGHT 


Photo  Hollinger 

ORVILLE   WRIGHT 


Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


364 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


with  machines  which  are  supported 
by  the  pressure  onrushing  air  ex- 
erts on  cambered  surfaces,  i.  e., 
dynamic  aircraft,  is  called  aviation; 
its  vehicles  are  the  glider  and  the 
aeroplane,  of  which,  however,  only 
the  latter  possesses  practical  value, 
gliders  being  only  used  for  experi- 
mental purposes.  Unlike  static  air- 
craft the  aeroplane  cannot  remain 
motionless  in  the  air,  for  its  ability 
to  stay  aloft  is  conditional  upon  its 
faculty  to  create  air  pressure  by 
continuous  motion.  This  obvious 
drawback  may  some  day  be  obviated 
by  the  helicopter  or  direct-lift  ma- 
chine, in  which  sustentation  is 
sought  to  be  attained  independently 
of  horizontal  motion  by  the  use  of 
vertical  lifting  screws.  This  type 
of  machine  is  still  in  its  experimen- 
tal stage;  such  is  also  the  case  of 
of  the  ornithopter  or  wing-flapping 
machine,  which  seeks  to  copy  the 
movements  of  the  bird's  wing-beats, 
and  of  the  soaring  machine,  which  is 
supposed  to  fly  by  the  use  of  favora- 
ble air-currents. 

THE    DRIFT    BALLOON 

The  drift  balloon  (or  aerostat) 
was  invented  by  the  Montgolfier 
brothers  of  Annonay,  France,  who 
built  in  1783  a  balloon  supported  by 
heated  air. 

Before  the  close  of  the  same  year 
the  crude  hot-air  balloon  (called 
montgolfiere)  met  a  much  more  sci- 
entific rival  which  shortly  succeeded 
in  eliminating  it :  this  was  the  char- 
Here,  so  named  after  the  physicist 
Charles,  who  substituted  hydrogen 
for  hot  air  and  invented  nearly  all 
the  fitments  of  the  modern  aerostat. 
Hydrogen  gas  has  a  lifting  power 
of  about  60  pounds  per  1,000  cubic 
feet  and  remains  the  most  efficient 
static  motor  to  the  present  day ;  but 
as  its  production  is  expensive,  sport- 
ing balloons  are  generally  inflated 
with  coal  gas,  which  was  invented 
in  1821  by  George  Green,  of  Eng- 
land. Coal  gas,  however,  lifts  only 
about  35  pounds  per  1,000  cubic  feet. 

A  modern  aerostat  consists  of  an 


envelope,  made  of  varnished  silk, 
calico  or  rubber-proofed  fabric  im- 
pervious to  gas,  which  is  inflated 
through  a  long  neck  on  the  under 
side,  called  appendix.  The  envelope 
is  surrounded  with  a  net,  the  bottom 
of  which  is  constituted  by  a  suspen- 
sion ring  to  which  the  wicker  basket 
carrying  the  aeronauts  is  toggled 
with  eight  ropes.  The  top  of  the 
envelope  is  provided  with  a  valve 
which  allows  part  of  the  gas  to  es- 
cape whenever  the  aeronaut  wishes 
to  descend.  Upon  landing,  the  bal- 
loon must  at  once  be  disinflated  in 
order  to  avoid  being  dragged;  this 
is  achieved  by  the  ripping  panel, 
which  covers  a  vertical  seam  in  the 
envelope  and  is  operated  by  a  rope 
whereby  the  balloon  can  be  torn 
open  instantly. 

The  equipment  of  an  aerostat  com- 
prises: (1)  a  guide-rope,  which  en- 
ables the  pilot  to  maintain  his  verti- 
cal equilibrium,  when  near  the 
ground,  without  expending  ballast, 
the  balloon  being  then  relieved  of 
part  of  its  weight  by  the  rope  trail- 
ing on  the  ground;  (2)  ballast,  con- 
stituted by  sand  carried  in  bags,  and 
(3)  various  recording  instruments 
such  as  a  barograph,  a  statoscope,  a 
compass,  etc. 

In  the  days  when  self-propelled 
aircraft  were  inextant,  the  drift  bal- 
loon had  a  wide  usefulness  not  only 
in  the  field  of  scientific  and  sporting 
achievement — where  its  value  re- 
mains unimpaired — but  also  as  a 
vehicle  of  transportation.  This  was 
conclusively  demonstrated  during 
the  siege  of  Paris  in  1870-71,  when 
the  besieged  garrison  organized  a 
balloon-mail  service  by  means  of 
which  164  voyagers— amongst  whom 
Gambetta— and  3,000,000  despatches 
were  carried  over  the  Prussian  lines. 
Out  of  sixty-six  balloons  only  five 
were  captured  by  the  enemy  and  two 
were  lost  in  the  Atlantic ;  and  so 
great  was  the  moral  and  material 
success  of  this  enterprise  that  Bis- 
marck threatened  to  shoot  every 
aeronaut  as  a  spy,  and  Krupp  pro- 
duced the  first  anti-aircraft  gun. 


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366 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Although  the  dirigible  balloon 
and  the  aeroplane  have  now  entirely 
eliminated  the  drift  balloon  from 
military  use,  it  seems  certain  that 
the  aerostat  will  always  retain  its 
value  for  scientific  and  sporting 
achievements. 

CAPTIVE    AND    KITE    BALLOONS 

The  typical  captive  balloon  is 
nothing  but  an  aerostat  which  is 
maintained  at  a  given  height  by  a 


Ifc 


Courtesy  of  "Flying" 
FRENCH     KITE-BALLOON    ENGAGED 
"GTJN-SPOTTING" 


IN 


cable  attached  to  the  ground.  Such 
was  the  famous  Entreprenant,  which 
afforded  General  Jourdan,  command- 
ing the  French  army  at  the  battle 


of  Fleurus  (1794),  such  an  excellent 
view  of  the  enemy's  movements,  that 
it  actually  turned  a  near  French  de- 
feat into  a  brilliant  victory.  Such 
was  also  the  gigantic  sightseeing 
balloon  Giffard  built  for  the  Paris 
Exhibition  of  1878 ;  ihis  craft,  which 
had  a  volume  of  882,500  cubic  feet, 
carried  thirty-eight  passengers  at  a 
time  to  a  height  of  1,600  feet,  and 
was  hauled  down  by  a  300  horse- 
power steam  winch.  This  balloon 
has  remained  the  largest  spherical 
of  either  drift  or  captive  type. 

Contrary  to  what  might  be  ex- 
pected, the  lesson  of  the  battle  of 
Fleurus  was  lost  to  military  science 
and  it  was  only  after  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war  that  the  military  es- 
tablishments of  the  principal  nations 
adopted  the  captive  balloon  for  pur- 
poses of  observation  in  field  and 
siege  warfare.  In  this  function  cap- 
tive balloons  played  a  certain  role 
during  French  and  British  colonial 
expeditions ;  nevertheless  their  use- 
fulness proved  to  be  a  limited  one 
on  account  of  their  inability  to  stand 
up  in  a  strong  wind. 

The  defects  of  the  ordinary  cap- 
tive balloon  were  overcome  by  two 
German  army  officers,  Captains  Par- 
se val  and  Sigsfeld,  who  produced  in 
1898  the  so-called  Jcite-balloon — a 
craft  which  has  proven  so  success- 
ful that  it  is  now  recognized  to  be 
an  indispensable  auxiliary  of  every 
up-to-date  army  and  navy. 

The  kite-balloon  consists  essen- 
tially of  an  elongated  gas-bag  which 
is  divided  into  two  unequal  portions, 
the  larger  of  which  (comprising 
about  four-fifths  the  total  volume)  is 
filled  with  hydrogen;  the  remaining 
one-fifth  constitutes  the  ballonnet,  or 
air-cell,  and  this  is  automatically  in- 
flated by  the  wind  through  a  con- 
venient aperture.  The  ballonhet  ful- 
fills two  purposes:  first,  it  creates 
within  the  gas-bag  a  sur-pressure 
equal  to  the  pressure  of  the  wind 
plus  the  static  pressure  of  the  hydro- 
gen, thus  enabling  the  balloon  to 
maintain  its  shape  regardless  of  any 
wind  the  mooring  cables  can  with- 


368 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


stand;  and  secondly,  air  being  much 
heavier  than  hydrogen,  the  air-cell 
causes  the  balloon  to  assume  an  in- 
clined position,  which  is  particularly 
favorable  for  counter-acting  the  de- 
pressing tendency  of  the  wind.  In 
order  to  keep  the  craft  always  head- 
on  to  the  wind  a  sausage-shaped  air 
bag  rudder  is  fitted  to  the  rear  of 
the  envelope,  which  is  inflated  the 
same  way  as  the  air-cell;  longitudi- 
nal stability  is  further  insured  by 
a  number  of  sails  and  a  device  simi- 
lar to  a  kite's  tail. 

The  standard  type  of  kite-balloon 
has  a  volume  of  from  25,000  to  35,000 
cubic  feet,  and  it  carries  one  or  two 
observers  who  are  connected  by  tele- 
phone with  the  artillery  unit  they 
are  attached  to.  As  a  fire-control 
station  for  military,  and  even  naval 
operations  of  a  stationary  character 
(siege,  blockade,  etc.),  the  kite-bal- 
loon far  surpasses  the  aeroplane,  af- 
fording, as  it  does,  a  steady  platform 
wherefrom  field  glasses  or  telescopes 
can  be  used  to  great  advantage. 

In  the  Great  War  the  kite-balloon 
is  chiefly  being  used  on  the  western 
front,  where  hundreds  of  them  dot 
the  rears  of  the  Allies'  and  German 
lines.  Their  importance  in  effectu- 
ally regulating  artillery  fire  was  par- 
ticularly well  demonstrated  in  the 
aerial  operations  which  preluded  the 
battle  of  the  Somme.  X  few  days  be- 
fore the  big  Allied  "drive"  began, 
British  and  French  fighting  aero- 
planes methodically  attacked  every 
kite-balloon  which  stood  watch  over 
the  German  lines  in  that  sector,  fif- 
teen being  set  on  fire  and  destroyed 
and  the  remainder  being  driven 
down.  It  was  only  after  the  German 
commanders  had  been  thus  deprived 
of  their  fire-control  stations  that  the 
Allied  drive  started  with  its  bom- 
bardment and  subsequent  infantry 
attack. 

As  kite-balloons  do  not  possess  any 
means  of  defense  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  provide  their  occupants  with 
parachutes  so  that  they  might  es- 
cape with  their  lives  should  the  bal- 
loon be  carried  away  by  a  storm  or 


be  set  afire  by  enemy  aviators.  Not- 
withstanding the  latter  contingency, 
which  incidentally  can  be  neutral- 
ized in  some  measure  by  the  co- 
operation of  anti-aircraft  guns  and 
friendly  fighting  aeroplanes,  kite- 
balloons  appear  to  be  decidedly  su- 
perior to  aeroplanes  in  the  function 
of  directing  artillery  fire  because  of 
the  former's  ability  to  hover  over 
a  place,  which  aeroplanes  do  not 
possess. 

DIRIGIBLE    BALLOONS 

The  dirigible  balloon  is  the  logical 
outcome  of  the  Montgolfier  brothers' 
ambition — which  prompted  their  in- 
vention— -to  navigate  the  atmosphere 
at  will  in  lieu  of  drifting  slavishly 
before  the  prevailing  wind. 

The  basic  elements  of  a  dirigible 
are  (1)  an  elongated  gas-container, 
called  hull  or  envelope,  and  so  shaped 
in  order  to  attain  the  greatest  speed 
with  the  least  expenditure  of  motive 
power;  (2)  one  or  more  cars  or  na- 
celles containing  the  power-plant 
which  drives  a  number  of  propellers 
the  fuel  supply,  the  crew  and  the 
passengers,  and  eventually  a  com- 
mercial or  military  load;  (3)  a  sys- 
tem of  connection  between  cars  and 
hull;  (4)  such  means  as  wrill  assure 
the  permanency  of  the  hull's  shape ; 
and  (5)  such  means  of  control  as 
will  effectually  regulate  the  longi- 
tudinal and  vertical  equilibrium. 

A  century  elapsed  before  all  these 
requirements  could  be  successfully 
filled.  This  is  why  the  invention  of 
the  dirigible  cannot  be  attributed  to 
one  sole  man,  but  is  rather  due  to  a 
series  of  inventions,  such  as  that  of 
the  ballonnet,  of  the  stabilizing  fins 
and  of  the  horizontal  rudder,  and 
finally  of  the  gasoline  engine,  which 
latter  has,  more  than  anything  else, 
made  the  actual  success  of  the  diri- 
gible possible. 

The  existing  dirigibles  may  be 
divided,  according  to  their  mode  of 
construction,  into  two  classes,  viz., 
(1)  pressure  airships  in  which  the 
permanency  of  the  hull  is  insured  by 
maintaining  within  the  flexible  en- 


AERONAUTICS 


369 


velope  a  pressure  superior  to  the 
atmospheric  pressure,  and  (2)  riff  id 
or  structure  airships,  in  which  the 
same  object  is  attained  by  means  of 
a  rigid  framework  covered  with  fab- 
ric which  encloses  a  number  of  drum- 
shaped  gas  bags.  Pressure  airships 
further  subdivide  into  vessels  of  the 


CROSS    SECTION    OF    AN    ASTRA-TORRES 

AIRSHIP,    SHOWING   MODE    OF 

SUSPENSION 


non-ri(jid  and  semi-rigid  type,  accord- 
ing to  whether  the  car  or  cars  are 
directly  hung  from  the  envelope  by 
means  of  steel  cables  or  are  sus- 
pended from  a  metal  keel  attached 
to,  or  built  into,  the  hull.  Of  the 
former  type  are  the  Astra-Torres,  the 


Clement-Bayard,  the  Parseval  and 
the  Zodiac  airships ;  the  Crocco- 
Ricaldoni,  the  Forlanini,  the  Gross- 
Basenach  and  the  Lebaudy  dirigibles 
pertain  to  the  latter.  But  whatever 
the  mode  of  suspension,  all  pressure 
airships  have  as  a  common  feature 
the  ballonnct,  a  collapsible  air-cell 
located  at  the  bottom  of  the  hull, 
which  can  be  inflated  with  air  by  a 
ventilator  whenever  the  gas  con- 
tracts through  a  change  of  tempera- 
ture or  of  atmospheric  pressure  so 
that  a  constancy  of  displacement 
may  be  realized.  The  ballomiet  com- 
pensates losses  of  volume,  but  not 
ones  of  lift  (air  being  about  four- 
teen times  heavier  than  hydrogen)  ; 
a  decrease  of  lift  can  be  made  good 
only  by  jettisoning  ballast  (sand  or 
water).  An  excess  of  pressure  with- 
in the  hull  caused  by  an  expansion 
of  the  hydrogen  is  relieved  by  auto- 
matic valves,  which  are  fitted  to 
both  hull  and  ballonnet ;  but  as  the 
ballonnet  valves  open  at  a  less  pres- 
sure than  those  of  the  hull  an  excess 
of  pressure  will  first  be  relieved  by 
an  expulsion  of  air  from  the  bal- 
lonnet. If,  therefore,  the  latter  has 
a  sufficient  capacity,  no  losses  of  gas 
will  occur  in  the  process  of  regulat- 
ing the  vertical  equilibrium. 

On  some  pressure  airships  two 
ballonnets  are  fitted,  one  fore  and 
one  abaft,  which  can  respectively  be 
pumped  full  of  air  and  thus  steer 
the  vessel  up  and  down  by  static 
means ;  it  is  more  common,  however, 


AERIAL    NAVIGATION    CHARTS 

(as  shown  on  the  left)   are  designed  and  colored  to  closely  resemble  the  ground 
as   seen   from   above    (on   the  right) 


370 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


to  effect  this  function  dynamically, 
i.  e.,  by  fitting  the  airship's  stern 
with  a  horizontal  rudder,  called  ele 
vator,  which  acts  by  the  virtue  of 
the  pressure  onrushing  air  exerts 
upon  an  inclined  plane.  In  addition 


(Photo  J.  E.  Watkins) 

OTTO    LILIENTHAL'S    BIPLANE    GLIDER 

to  an  elevator  and  a  vertical  rudder, 
for  steering  right  and  left,  most  air- 
ships are  fitted  with  horizontal  and 
vertical  fins,  which  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  checking  any  pitching  and 
yawing  tendency. 

The  engines  used  on  airships  dif- 
fer but  little  from  the  well  known 
automobile  type,  except  that  partic- 
ular care  is  taken  in  their  design 
to  obtain  the  least  possible  weight 
and  a  low  fuel  consumption  ;  the  best 
airship  engines  (Chenu,  Clement- 
Bayard,  May  bach)  do  not  consume 
more  than  one-half  pound  of  fuel 
per  horse-power  in  one  hour.  Pro- 
pulsion is  effected  by  air-screws, 
which  are  generally  mounted  on  out- 
riggers on  either  side  of  the  cars. 

Rigid  airships  need  no  ballonnet, 
the  shape  of  their  hull  being  ren- 
dered permanent  by  the  framework. 
This  system  has  the  advantage  of 
being  supported  by  independent  gas- 
bags so  that  if  one  of  these  should 
accidentally  become  disinflated  the 
airship  could  still  continue  its  jour- 
ney. -  This  feature  is  particularly 


valuable  for  military  service  and  it 
has  enabled  many  a  Zeppelin — the 
most  successful  rigid  airship  to  date 
— to  escape  destruction  after  having 
been  hit  by  enemy  fire.  A  remark- 
able proof  of  the  value  of  the  sec- 
tional construction  of  rigid  airships 
was  furnished  by  a  Zeppelin  which 
collided  with  a  tree  and  had  its  bow 
ripped  open  by  the  impact ;  the  dam- 
age was  quickly  repaired  by  taking 
off  three  front  compartments  and 
by  lightening  the  front  car,  where- 
upon the  airship  concluded  its  jour- 
ney, a  matter  of  ninety  miles.  A 
similar  accident,  had  it  happened  to 
a  pressure  airship,  would  have 
caused  the  destruction  of  the  vessel. 
The  great  difficulty  confronting  the 
operation  of  Zeppelins  is  the  moor- 
ing of  these  enormous  vessels  in  the 
open,  for  unlike  pressure  airships 
they  cannot  be  instantly  disinflated 
in  case  of  an  impending  hurricane; 
but  this  drawback,  which  has  caused 
the  loss  of  a  score  of  Zeppelins,  is 
now  being  overcome  by  the  increased 
skill  of  the  airship  crews  and  by  a 
perfected  system  of  anchoring,  but 


S.  P.  LANGLEY'S  STEAM-DRIVEN  AERO- 
PLANE MODEL  WHICH  FLEW  IN  1896 
ABOVE  THE  POTOMAC  RIVER  A  DIS- 
TANCE OF  %  MILE 


chiefly  by  a  great  number  of  "air- 
ports," which  the  Germans  have  fit- 
ted with  elaborate  sheds,  hydrogen 
generating  plants,  workshops,  etc. 


AERONAUTICS 


371 


On  the  left  is  shown  the  motorless  glider  on  which   O.  Wright  remained  aloft  for 

nine    minutes ;    on    the   right,    the    man-lifting    kite   of    Capt. 

Sacconey  used  for  military  observation 


Before  the  Zeppelins  had  become 
notorious  in  the  Great  War  as  en- 
gines of  indiscriminate  destruction 
they  achieved  a  more  legitimate 
fame  as  pleasure  craft.  For  several 
years  previous  to  1914  the  German 
Airship  Navigation  Company  of 
Frankfurt  maintained  between  vari- 
ous German  towns  a  highly  success- 


ful passenger  service  in  which  no 
passenger  ever  lost  his  life,  although 
several  accidents  marked  the  opera- 
tion of  the  air  liners.  The  Zep- 
pelins engaged  in  this  service  were 
fitted  with  a  luxurious  cabin-car, 
seating  twenty-four,  and  a  cold  res- 
taurant service  was  provided.  A 
look-out  post  fitted  on  top  of  the 


AN  EARLY  EXAMPLE   OF  THE  CUKTISS    "FLYING  BOAT" 
80  horse-power  engine;  speed  in  air,  60  miles  an  hour;  speed  on  water,  50  to  60  miles  an  hour 


372 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


(Photo  E.  L.  Ovington) 

FRONT    VIEW    OF    THE    50    H.  P.    GNOME 
ROTARY,    AIR-COOLED   MOTOR 

hull,  which  could  be  reached  from 
the  bow-car  by  means  of  a  stairway 
enclosed  in  a  chimney,  enabled  the 
airship  commander  to  navigate  by 
astronomical  observation. 


While  private  enterprise  thus  de- 
veloped the  air-liner  the  German  mil- 
itary authorities  created  the  air- 
cruiser — a  Zeppelin  in  which  the 
pleasant  cabin-car  holds  bombs  of 
the  explosive  and  incendiary  kind 
and  mounts  machine  guns,  and  late- 
ly, even  small  quick-firers  for  ward- 
ing off  enemy  aeroplanes. 

Outside  of  Germany  the  value  of 
the  rigid  air-cruiser  with  its  great 
range  and  carrying  capacity  was 
either  overlooked  or  contested,  al- 
though in  1912  the  first  naval  Zep- 
pelin covered  on  its  trial  run  a  dis- 
tance of  1,200  miles  in  31  hours, 
with  a  crew  of  31  and  a  wireless 
outfit  carrying  200  miles. 

When  the  war  broke  out  the  Allies 
possessed  only  pressure  airships  of 
low  range  and  slow  speed,  as  com- 
pared to  the  dozen  Zeppelins  Ger- 
many was  able  to  line  up;  this  ex- 
plains the  marked  superiority  in 
long-range  scouting  the  Germans 
possessed  during  the  initial  onrush 
on  both  fronts.  The  Allies  clearly 


DETAILS    OF    AEROPLANE    DESIGN 

On  the  left,  a  machine  with  folding  wings ;  on  the  right,  the  armored  nose,  enclosing 
a  rotary  motor,  of  a  military  monoplane 


AERONAUTICS 


37,'* 


perceived  their  inferiority  in  this 
respect  and  also  their  inability  to 
produce  in  a  short  time  rigid  air- 
ships which  would  meet  the  Zep- 
pelins on  even  terms;  so  they  set 
upon  developing  the  bombing  aero- 
plane and  the  anti-aircraft  gun. 
Gradual  improvement  both  in  these 
weapons  and  in  the  skill  of  their 
operators  soon  cut  short  the  Zep- 
pelin's value  for  overland  scouting, 
reducing  its  activity  to  night  raids 
on  more  or  less  defended  towns, 
which  achieved,  however,  little  mili- 
tary damage. 

The  greatest  present  asset  of  the 
Zeppelin  seems  to  be  its  faculty  to 
act  as  a  fleet  auxiliary  for  strategic 
reconnaissance,  because  it  exceeds  in 
this  respect  not  only  the  radius  of 
action  but  also  the  climbing  ability 
of  seaplanes.  If  it  be  realized  that 
a  Zeppelin  can  see,  from  a  height 
where  it  is  little  vulnerable,  four 
times  as  far  and  travel  twice  as  fast 
as  the  swiftest  scout-cruiser,  the  ex- 
traordinary handicap  the  British 
Grand  Fleet  had  to  cope  with  in  the 
battle  of  Jutland  may  readily  be 
understood. 

Although  of  much  less  potentiality 
than  the  Zeppelins,  the  pressure  air- 
ships of  the  Allies  have  been  found 
very  useful  for  anti-submarine  de- 
fence, mine-sweeping  and  minor 
scouting  operations.  It  seems,  how- 
ever, that  should  the  dirigible  sur- 
vive in  spite  of  the  aeroplane,  which 
is  quite  possible,  the  rigid  system 
will  likely  prove  the  ultimate  type, 
there  being  a  limit  of  size  beyond 
which  it  will  be  neither  practical 
nor  economic  to  build  pressure  air- 
ships. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  rap- 
idly standardized  airships  can  be 
built  in  large  quantities :  since  the 
outbreak  of  the  Great  War  the  three 
factories  of  the  Zeppelin  Company 
have  turned  out  airships  at  the  rate 
of  one  in  three,  four  and  five  weeks, 
respectively.  By  July,  1916,  one 
hundred  and  ten  Zeppelins  had  been 
launched,  including  twenty-five  prior 
to  the  war;  it  is  true,  on  the  other 


hand,  that  up  to  that  date  thirteen 
Zeppelins  had  been  lost  in  times  of 
peace  and  forty-two  due  to  the 
agency  of  war.  Owing  to  its  great 
vulnerability  the  military  future  of 
the  Zeppelin  seems  rather  uncertain ; 
its  commercial  possibilities,  however, 
appear  to  be  more  promising  for  the 
immediate  future  and  more  especial- 
ly so  for  a  trans-Atlantic  service. 

HISTORY      AND      MECHANICS      OF      THE 
AEROPLANE 

The  aeroplane  is — just  like  the 
dirigible  balloon — not  so  much  one 
man's  invention  as  the  combined 
product  resulting  from  experiments 


(Photo  L.  d'Orcy) 

TWO  -  SEATER  SCOUTING  AEROPLANE 
(160  H.  P.)  OF  THE  TI.  S.  ARMY  AVIA- 
TION SECTION  STARTING  TO  GET  OFF 


conducted  and  theories  worked  out 
for  nearly  a  century  by  several 
schools  of  investigators.  The  funda- 
mental theory  of  the  aeroplane  was 
clearly  set  forth  by  an  Englishman, 
Sir  George  Cayley,  as  early  as  1809, 
and  actually  furnished  the  basis 
upon  which  the  modern  aeroplane 
was  subsequently  built  up.  In  1846 
another  Englishman,  Strinfffeltow, 
gave  a  practical  proof  of  this  theory 
by  building  a  small  aeroplane  model 
driven  by  a  steam  engine,  which 
made  several  successful  flights  un- 
der perfect  balance;  this  machine 
was,  in  conformity  with  Cayley 's 
theory,  a  monoplane.  In  1866  F.  8. 
Wenham,  also  of  England,  invented 
the  multiple  surfaced  aeroplane  and 
\t  was  again  Stringfellow  who  vindi- 


874 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


cated  the  claims  of  the  new  prin- 
ciple by  a  successful  free  flight  of 
a  triplane  model.  Further  important 
contributions  to  the  dynamics  of  the 
aeroplane  were  made  by  A.  Pgnaud, 
H.  Phillips,  Sir  Hiram  Maxim  and 
8.  P.  Langley,  late  secretary  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution.  The  latter 
built,  in  1903,  a  man-lifting  aero- 
plane, which,  but  for  its  defective 
launching  device,  would  have  flown 
under  control  just  as  it  did  eleven 
years  afterward  with  its  original  ro- 
tary motor.  The  first  aeroplane  to 
have  actually  left  the  ground,  carry- 
ing a  man,  was  the  bat-shaped  ma- 
chine with  which  C.  Ader,  of  France, 
made,  from  1890  to  1896,  several 
short  flights.  The  balance  of  this 
machine,  however,  was  poor,  and  it 
was  only  after  the  German  O.  Lilien- 
thal  had  discovered  by  prolonged 
gliding  experiments  the  means  of 
controlling  the  balance  of  flying  ma- 
chines that  progress  became  practi- 
cal. Lilienthal's  gliding  experiments 
were  repeated  and  perfected  in  this 
country,  under  the  guidance  of  O. 
Chanute,  by  the  Wright  brothers,  of 
Dayton,  Ohio,  who  gave  the  aero- 
plane its  one  missing  link,  the  wTarp- 
ing  mechanism  for  insuring  trans- 
verse equilibrium;  having  thus 
brought  the  dynamic  flyer  under 
three-dimensional  control,  the 
Wright  brothers  fitted  their  glider 
with  a  gasoline  engine  driving  twin 
propellers  and  succeeded  in  making 
their  first  power-flights  on  December 
17,  1903,  on  the  beach  of  Kitty 
Hawk,  N.  C.  The  Wright  brothers, 
therefore,  fully  deserve  the  credit  of 
having  rendered  practical — in  other 
words,  invented — the  aeroplane. 

The  basic  elements  of  an  aero- 
plane are:  (1)  the  main  surfaces,  or 
wings,  of  which  there  are  one  or 
more  pairs  (in  the  latter  case  super- 
posed or  in  tandem)  according  to 
whether  the  machine  is  a  monoplane 
or  multiplane  (biplane,  triplane, 
quadruplane,  etc)  ;  (2)  the  auxil- 
iary surfaces  or  control  organs  which 
regulate  the  machine's  balance  and 
direction  (ailerons,  fins,  elevator 


and  rudder)  ;  (3)  the  bodywork  or 
fuselage,  which  forms  the  bridge  be- 
tween the  wings  and  the  tail  and 
affords  accommodation  for  the  pas- 
sengers, the  fuel  tanks,  the  navigat- 
ing instruments,  etc. ;  (4)  the  power- 
plant,  composed  of  one  or  more  en- 
gines actuating  one  or  more  propel- 
lers, whose  position  ahead  or  abaft 
of  the  wings  causes  the  aeroplane 
to  be  called  a  tractor  or  pusher;  and 
(5)  the  undercarriage,  which  is  fit- 
ted with  either  wheels  or  floats,  or 
both,  for  starting  from  and  alight- 
ing on  land  or  water,  or  both. 

The  seaplane  or  marine  aeroplane 
is  the  invention  of  Henri  Fabre,  of 
Marseilles,  France,  who  made  the 
first  flight  from  the  sea  on  May  21, 
1910,  at  Martigues.  The  "flying 
boat,"  whose  development  is  chiefly 
due  to  Glenn  H.  Curtiss  and  M.  Den- 
haut,  is  a  seaplane  in  which  the 
bodywork  is  combined  with  a  cen- 
tral boat  of  large  flotation,  thus  do- 


(Photo  L.  d'Orcy) 


AMERICAN-BUILT  SPEED  SCOUT  FITTED 
WITH  A  100  H.  P.  STATIONARY  CUR- 
TISS MOTOR.  HORIZONTAL  SPEED,  119 
MILES  PER  HOUR. 


ing  away  with  a  special  undercar- 
riage. 

Particular  credit  for  having  ad- 
vanced the  mechanics  of  the  aero- 
plane is  due  to  Louis  BUriot,  E. 
Nieuport,  J.  Btichereau  and  R. 
Saulnier  (monoplane  construction)  ; 
to  the  Voisin  and  Farman  brothers 
(development  of  the  pusher  biplane) 
to  Louis  Brgguet  and  A.  V.  Roe,  the 


AERONAUTICS 


375 


THE  ROLLING  STOCK  OF  AN  AEROPLANE   SQUADRON 
On  the  left,  a  motor  repair  lorry  ;  on  the  right,  an  aeroplane  truck  with  its  trailer 


originators  of  the  tractor  biplane, 
and  to  Gustave  Eiffel,  whose  aero- 
dynamic research  work  has  placed 
the  aeroplane  on  a  scientific  basis. 
No  less  credit  should  go  to  the 
Seguin  brothers  for  their  invention 
of  the  Gnome  motor,  which  has 
probably  furthered  the  progress  of 
aviation  more  than  any  other  single 
invention  and  still  appears  as  the 
prototype  of  the  most  promising 
aeroplane  engine;  and  to  L.  Chau- 
viere,  inventor  of  the  wooden  air- 
screw. 

Quite  an  important  advance  in 
aeroplane  design  was  achieved  in 
1913  by  a  Russian  engineer.  M.  Si- 
korski,  who  first  conceived  the  idea 
of  building  aeroplanes  of  very  large 
size,  driven  by  several  independent 
motors  and  capable  of  carrying  a 
dozen  people  in  a  comfortable,  heat- 
ed and  lighted  cabin.  In  this  coun- 
try Glenn  H.  Curtiss  has  since  suc- 
cessfully produced  large  seaplanes 
based  on  a  similar  principle. 

THE      DEVELOPMENT     OF      MILITARY 
AVIATION 

As  soon  as  the  aeroplane  had 
proved  its  ability  to  effect  voyages 
with  sufficient  reliability  and  its 
range,  carrying  capacity  and  climb- 
ing ability  increased,  military  au- 
thorities all  over  the  world  were 
prompt  in  adopting  it  for  purposes 
of  reconnaissance.  It  was  in  this 
function  that  the  aeroplane  made 
its  dtbut  in  the  Great  War  and  the 


services  it  rendered  were  so  im- 
portant that  all  the  belligerents 
quickly  decided  upon  greatly  enlarg- 
ing their  aerial  establishments.  As 
specific  examples  of  the  wrork  achiev- 
ed by  scouting  aeroplanes  one  might 
mention  how  in  the  battle  of  Mons 
the  British  expeditionary  force  was 
saved  from  envelopment  and  possible 
annihilation  by  an  aviator  who  re- 
ported that  the  Germans  had  twice 
the  numbers  that  had  been  antici- 
pated. Again,  at  the  battle  of  the 
Marne  it  was  an  aeroplane  recon- 
naissance which  disclosed  the  gap 
between  Von  Billow's  and  Von  Hau- 
sen's  armies,  and  thus  enabled  Gen- 
eral Foch  to  drive  a  wedge  into  the 
German  lines,  forcing  them  to  re- 
treat. 

The  examples  cited  sufficiently 
emphasize  tne  value  of  the  aeroplane 
for  scouting;  but  as  both  Allies  and 
Teutons  went  to  war  provided  with 
"aerial  eyes,"  each  party  soon  felt 
the  neefl  of  preventing  the  enemy 
from  seeing — and  forestalling — the 
friendly  moves.  Such  was  the  in- 
ception of  what  is  to-day  termed  a 
"fighting  machine."  Then  the  neces- 
sity arose  of  destroying  an  impor- 
tant supply  station  or  a  railway 
junction  of  the  enemy,  which  ob- 
ject could  not  otherwise  be  reached 
than  by  attacking  the  place  froir 
above:  this  necessity  created  thi 
bombing  aeroplane. 

Originally  there  were  no  special 
machines  for  the  manifold  duties 


376 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


of  scouting,  fighting  and  bombing, 
every  aeroplane  being  supposed  to 
carry  out  all  or  any  duty  as  the 
necessity  arose.  As  a  result  no  aero- 
plane was  really  efficient  in  any  func- 
tion. Curiously  enough  the  Germans 
still  adhere  in  some  measure  to  this 
theory  which  the  British  and  French 
air  services  rejected  early  in  the 
war. 

SCOUTING   AEROPLANES 

The  modern  scouting  aeroplane, 
as  developed  by  the  Allies,  is  a  two- 
seater  of  great  speed  range — else  a 
detailed  inspection  of  the  underlying 


is  as  a  rule  a  highly  trained  special- 
ist, who  must  be  able  to  distinguish 
from  a  height  of  several  thousand 
feet  a  convoy  train  from  artillery, 
field  guns  from  howitzers,  or  a  sup- 
ply station  from  an  aircraft  park, 
and  be  conversant  with  the  Morse 
code,  so  that  he  may  instantly  send 
off  his  report  by  wireless  telegraphy. 
To  fly  back  to  headquarters  would 
mean  too  much  loss  of  time.  The 
observer's  duty  is  the  more  difficult 
as  the  enemy  below  will  do  every- 
thing to  mislead  him,  by  setting  up 
dummy  guns  and  holding  back  his 
gun  fire  while  the  aeroplane  hovers 


FIXED    MACHINE    GUN    EMPLACEMENT    OF    A    FRENCH    FIGHTING    AEROPLANE 


objective  becomes  impossible — whose 
only  task  consists  in  observing  a 
given  objective  and  reporting  the  re- 
sult in  the  quickest  way  possible. 
Its  armament  is  purely  defensive 
and  generally  consists  of  one  ma- 
chine gun  firing  broadsides  and 
abaft  (on  tractors)  or  ahead  (on 
pushers).  The  crew  is  composed  of 
a  pilot  and  an  observer;  the  latter 


above;  troop  columns  on  march  will 
stop  and  seek  shelter;  positions 
which  cannot  be  masked  will  be  de- 
fended by  anti-aircraft  guns  or  pos- 
sibly by  fighting  aeroplanes  which 
the  observer  will  have  to  fight  off 
with  his  machine  gun. 

And  reconnaissance  is  not  limited 
to  noting  the  movements  and 
strength  of  enemy  forces ;  it  includes 


AERONAUTICS 


377 


"gun-spotting,"  which  consists  in  con- 
veying to  the  artillery  the  exact 
range  of  an  objective  to  be  shelled. 
These  manifold  duties  of  the  ob- 
server explain  why  a  scouting  aero- 
plane must  be  a  two-seater :  the  pilot 
is  indeed  kept  busy  enough  in  trying 
to  keep  to  his  right  course  while 
dodging  anti-aircraft  shells  by  flying 
in  erratic  zigzags. 

Although  anti-aircraft  guns  have 
greatly  improved  in  precision  during 


crossing  the  enemy  lines  at  only  2,- 
500  feet  altitude  and  still  was  able 
to  effect  a  safe  return. 

The  wartime  services  of  an  aero- 
plane may  attain  a  period  of  three 
to  six  months,  although  a  good  many 
machines  last  but  a  few  weeks;  ro- 
tary motors  last  100  to  150  hours  of 
service,  provided  they  are  thorough- 
ly taken  apart  and  cleaned  after  ev- 
ery 20  hours  of  service.  Stationary 
engines  last  a  good  deal  longer. 


FRENCH   AVION-CANON   MOUNTING   ONE   iya    IN.    Q.    F.    GUN 


two  years  of  warfare — of  which  the 
monthly  lists  of  the  belligerents'  air- 
craft losses  bear  eloquent  testimony 
—nothing  short  of  a  direct  hit  into 
a  vital  part  will  down  an  aeroplane, 
provided  its  petrol-tank  has  not  been 
set  afire.  Shrapnel  balls  and  rifle 
bullets  are  little  effective  against 
aeroplanes  flying  at  a  height,  of 
10,000  feet;  a  French  scouting  ma- 
chine received  400  bullet  holes  while 


The  tactical  unit  of  the  aviation 
service  is  the  squadron,  which  con- 
sists (in  the  United  States  and  Brit- 
ish armies)  of  twelve  machines  of 
the  same  type,  twelve  motor  trucks 
with  their  trailers  for  land  trans- 
portation and  of  a  repair-car,  and 
several  automobiles  and  motorcycles. 
The  squadron  subdivides  into  three 
companies  (flights  in  the  R.  Flying 
Corps)  of  four  machines  each. 


378 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  ZEPPELIN  AIRSHIP 


Year 

Length 

(Feet) 

Beam 

(Feet) 

Total  Lift 
(Tons) 

H.  P. 

Speed 
(Miles)  , 

1900.  .  . 
1905 

420 
420 

38 
38  4 

12.8 
12  9 

32 
170 

15 
25 

1908  
1910 

446 

485 

42.6 
46 

17.0 
21  8 

210 
330 

28 
35 

1912  
1914 

518 
518 

48.5 
54  4 

25.4 
30  5 

600 
800 

47 
53 

1916  

780 

80 

61.0 

1,500 

65 

WORLD'S  RECORDS  FOR  AIRCRAFT 

(Those  marked  *  are  not  recognized  by  the  International  Aeronautic  Federation) 

DISTANCE   (Cross  Country) 
Aeroplanes. .  . 


646  miles,  by  A.  Seguin,  Paris-Bordeaux-Paris,  on  Oct.  13th,  1913. 

(H.  Farman  pusher,  80  h.  p.  Gnome). 

745  miles*  by  the  Italian  Army  airship  M-2  on  Oct.  14th,  1913. 
1896.97  miles  by  Berliner,  Bitterfeld  to  Bisserstk,  Russia,  Feb.  8, 
10th,  1914. 

DURATION   (Non-stop) 

.21  hrs.,  48  min.,  by  W.  Landmann,  at  Johannistal  (Germany)  on 
June  26-27th,  1914.     (Albatros  biplane  tractor,  75  h.  p.  Mercedes.) 
,35  hrs.,  20  min.,  by  the  "Adjutant-Vincenot"  (French  army  ship), 

on  June  27th,  1914. 

87  hrs.,  by  Hugo  Kaulen,  Bitterfeld  to  Perm  (Russia),  on  Dec.  13- 
17th,  1913. 

SPEED  OVER  CLOSED  CIRCUIT 

.  126.67  miles  per  hour,  by  M.  Prevost,  at  Reims  (France)  on  Sept. 
29th,  1913.     (Deperdussin  monoplane,  160  h.  p.  Gnome). 

Dirigibles 58  m.  p.  h.*  by  the  Italian  army  airship  V-l,  in  Feb.,  1915. 

ALTITUDE 

Aeroplanes 21,471  ft.,  by  E.  Audemars,  at  Issy,  France,  on  Sept.  8th,   1915. 

(Morane-Saulnier  parasol  monoplane,  80  h.  p.  Le  Rhone.) 

Dirigibles 10,728  feet*,  by  the  Italian  army  airship  M-l  in  Feb.,  1915. 

Drift  balloons 34,433  feet,  by  Suring  and  Berson  at  Berlin,  on  June  31st,  1901. 

OVERSEA 

320  miles* — St.  Gran,  from  Cruden  Bay  (Aberdeenshire)  to  Kleppe  near  Stavanger 
(Norway),  on  July  30th,  1914.     Bleriot  monoplane. 


Dirigibles.  .  .  . 
Drift  balloons 


Aeroplanes.  .  . 

Dirigibles 

Drift  balloons 


Aeroplanes . 


FIGHTING   AEROPLANES 

Although  scouting  aeroplanes  do 
carry  defensive  armament,  it  often 
becomes  necessary  to  protect  them 
against  a  concerted  enemy  attack. 
Such  is  the  function  of  the  fighting 
aeroplane,  a  high-speed,  single-seat- 
er tractor,  which  can  out-fly  and  out- 
climb  any  other  type  of  machine. 
The  pilot  aims  the  machine-gun, 
which  is  rigidly  fixed  in  front  of 
him,  by  steering  the  aeroplane 
against  the  target ;  the  blades  of  the 
air-screw  are  armored  and  thus  de- 
flect the  bullets  which  hit  them.  In 
this  way  about  30  per  cent  of  the 
bullets  go  astray.  This  gun-mount- 
ing, which  was  invented  by  R.  Gar- 
ros, the  famous  French  airman,  has 
since  been  adopted  by  the  Germans 
on  their  Fokker  monoplanes  with  the 


one  variance,  however,  that  the  gun 
is  connected  with  a  timing  device 
actuated  by  the  motor,  so  that  it 
can  fire  only  when  the  blades  of 
the  air-screw  do  not  cover  the  muz- 
zle. 

Quick  maneuvering  ability  being 
one  of  the  chief  assets  in  aerial  com- 
bat, it  follows  that  fighting  aero- 
planes must  be  highly  sensitive,  in 
other  words,  neutrally  equilibrated, 
so  as  to  instantly  respond  to  control ; 
this  is  why  only  pilots  showing  par- 
ticular aptitude  for  aerial  combat 
are  entrusted  with  the  operation  of 
fighting  machines. 

In  addition  to  protecting  scouting 
machines,  fighting  aeroplanes  are 
also  used  for  destroying  kite  bal- 
loons, convoying  bombing  machines 
on  raids  and  even  attacking  Zep- 


AERONAUTICS 


379 


pelins.  Two  Zeppelins  were  thus  de- 
stroyed from  small  combat  machines 
carrying  but  a  few  bombs,  by  the 
late  Flight-Sub-Lieut.  R.  Warneford, 
R.N.A.S.,  and  Lieut.  W.  L.  Robinson, 
R.F.C.,  respectively,  whereas  aero- 
planes of  all  types,  as  well  as  kite 
balloons,  have  been  lost  by  the  chief 
belligerents  in  numbers  aggregating 
several  hundreds. 

BOMBING    AEROPLANES 

Fighting  aeroplanes  are  but  oc- 
casionally used  as  -bombers  and  more 
especially  in  cases  where  quick 
climbing  is  imperative.  Bombing 
raids  proper  are  carried  out  by  so- 
called  bombing  aeroplanes,  in  which 
high  speed  is  forsaken  in  favor  of 
great  carrying  capacity.  The  load 
of  explosives  such  a  machine  carries 
can  be  apportioned  either  into  a 
great  number  of  light  bombs  or  else 
into  a  few  powerful  missiles,  some 
of  which  weigh  as  much  as  300 
pounds. 

Considering  the  first  two  years  of 
aerial  operations  it  appears  that  the 
French  and  the  British  achieved  in- 
contestable aerial  supremacy  in 
scouting  and  fighting  only  toward 
the  close  of  this  period ;  it  is  there- 
fore the  more  striking  that  the  action 
of  bombing  aeroplanes,  in  other 
words  the  aeroplane  offensive,  should 


COCKPIT,    MOUNTING   A   MACHINE    GUN, 
OF  A  BRITISH  BOMBING  AEROPLANE 


have  belonged  practically  all  the 
time  to  the  Allies.  The  big  bombing 
raids  by  French  and  British  aero- 
plane fleets — some  of  them  composed 
of  fifty  and  sixty  machines — against 
the  airship  sheds,  railway  junctions, 
shell  factories,  supply  stations,  sub- 
marine bases  and  coast  defense 
works  of  the  Germans,  in  the  course 
of  which  immeasurable  moral  and 
material  punishment  was  inflicted, 
certainly  appear  as  one  of  the  most 
striking  phases  of  aerial  warfare. 

An  indication  of  what  the  battle 
aeroplane  of  to-morrow  might  be,  is 
furnished  by  the  French  avion-ca- 
non;  this  is  a  large  pusher,  mount- 
ing on  its  bow  a  1^-inch  quick  fire 


SEAPLANE    UNDER    CARRIAGES 
On  the  left,  a  "twin-floater ;"  on  the  right,  a  "flying-boat" 


380 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


gun,  which  fires  an  incendiary  shell, 
and  is  chiefly  used  for  shooting 
down  kite-balloons. 

THE  SEAPLANE 

The  functions  of  the  seaplane  ar*> 
to  all  intents  similar  to  those  of 
the  aeroplane,  viz.,  scouting  in  ad- 
vance of  fleets  and  naval  bases, 
clearing  the  skies  of  enemy  aircraft 
and  bombing  the  enemy's  coast  es- 
tablishments. 

Seaplanes  work  under  a  double 
handicap:  first,  all  other  elements 
being  equal,  their  heavy  floats  great- 
ly decrease  the  useful  load  which 
might  otherwise  be  utilized  for  in- 
creasing their  range  or  their  load  of 
bombs,  and  secondly,  the  design  of 
seaplane-floats  is  not  yet  sufficiently 
advanced  to  permit  alighting  on  or 
starting  from  a  rough  sea.  Con- 
sequently flights  of  several  hundred 
miles'  length,  which  are  common 
enough  over  land,  are  infinitely  more 
difficult  to  carry  out  over  the  sea; 
this  is  why  all  seaplane  operations 
have — unlike  the  work  of  land  ma- 
chines— occurred  in  close  proximity 
of  permanent  bases  or  mother-ships. 

Notwithstanding  their  limitations 
seaplanes  have  rendered  exceeding- 
ly useful  services  as  fleet  auxiliaries, 
particularly  in  the  Gallipoli  cam- 
paign, where  gun-spotting  seaplanes 
directed  the  Allies'  guns  on  targets 
invisible  but  from  the  air.  Sea- 
planes have  also  played  a  notable 
r61e  in  patrolling  the  coasts  of  the 
warring  nations  and  in  detecting  and 
even  destroying  submarines  and 
mines.  And  in  the  battle  of  Jutland 
the  work  of  a  solitary  British  sea- 
plane pilot  was  recommended  by 
Vice-Admiral  Beatty  in  the  follow- 
ing terms:  "Lieut.  F.  J.  Rutland, 
R.  N.,  for  his  gallantry  and  per- 
sistence in  flying  within  close  range 
of  four  enemy  light  cruisers:,  in 
order  to  enable  accurate  informa- 
tion to  be  obtained  and  transmitted 
concerning  them.  Conditions  at  the 
time  made  low  flying  necessary." 

The  present  trend  in  the  design 
of  seaplanes  (as  well  as  of  aero- 
planes) appears  to  be  toward  ma- 


chines propelled  by  several  motors 
and  propellers,  the  purpose  of  which 
is  to  keep  the  machine  aloft  or  at 
least  capable  of  returning  to  its  base 
even  if  one  motor  should  break  down 
or  be  destroyed  by  the  enemy. 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  AMERICAN  TROPHY 
donated    with    the    object    of    fostering    the 
art    of    aerial    navigation,     is    now    in     the 
permanent  possession   of   Mr.    Glenn   H.    Cur- 
tiss,   who   won   it   three   times   in   succession. 


AERONAUTICS    IN    AMERICA 

The  Great  War  has  had  a  very 
beneficial  influence  on  the  American 
aircraft  industry  ;  millions  of  dollars 
worth  of  aeroplanes  and  motors  were 


AERONAUTICS 


381 


purchased  in  this  country  by  the 
Allies,  chiefly  for  training  purposes, 
and  the  profits  derived  thereby  have 
enabled  American  manufacturers  to 
develop  aeroplanes  and  engines 
which  begin  to  compare  favorably 
with  the  products  of  Europe.  Among 
the  aeroplanes  thus  produced  one 
might  mention  the  huge  multiple  en- 
gined  "flying  boats"  of  Glenn  H. 
Curtiss;  a  machine  of  this  type  is 
now  being  developed  «for  crossing  the 
Atlantic  from  Newfoundland  to  Ire- 
land, a  distance  of  1,800  miles. 

The  important  services  the  aerial 
arms  have  rendered  to  the  warring 
nations  has  awakened  the  American 
public"  to  the  realization  that  the 
United  States  needs — and  has  so 


far  lacked — an  air  service  adequate 
to  its  policies;  as  a  consequence  the 
Aero  Club  of  America  instituted  the 
National  Aeroplane  Fund  which, 
thanks  to  the  generosity  of  patriotic 
citizens,  has  enabled  the  National 
Guard  of  various  States  to  acquire 
aeroplanes  and  train  aviators,  and 
Congress  appropriated  a  sum  of  over 
$15,000,000  for  the  development  of 
aeronautics  in  the  Navy  and  Army. 
On  July  13,  1916,  President  Wilson 
crowned  these  measures  by  creating 
the  Aerial  Reserve  Corps,  which  is 
nothing  short  of  an  aerial  militia. 
The  Post  Office  Department  is  fur- 
thermore considering  the  establish- 
ment of  several  aeroplane- mail 
routes. 


AEROPLANE   TYPES 
On  the  left,  a  flying  boat;   on  the  right,  a  tractor  biplane 


5      -§ 


CHAPTER   III. 
WIRELESS   TELEGRAPHY  AND  TELEPHONY 


By   AUSTIN  C.   LESCARBOURA 


NO  list  of  the  greatest  modern 
inventions     fails     to     include 
wireless   telegraphy   and   tele- 
phony.    And  it  is  perhaps  equally 
true  to   state   that  no  invention   is 
regarded  with  as  great  awe  by  the 
laity.     Yet   wireless  communication 
in  its  essentials  is  simple.    There  is 
nothing  truly  mysterious  in  wireless 
or  radio  telegraphy  and   telephony. 

MILESTONES    IN    THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF 
WIRELESS 

The  real  beginning  of  wireless 
communication,  or  rather  the  propa- 
gation of  electric  waves  through 
space  and  their  subsequent  detection 
at  remote  points,  is  largely  a  matter 
of  opinion.  Some  authorities  prefer 
to  look  upon  Steinheil  of  Munich, 
Germany,  as  having  taken  the  first 
step  toward  radio  communication. 
For  in  1838,  Steinheil,  following  the 
suggestion  of  Gauss,  demonstrated 
the  feasibility  of  using  the  ground 
as  the  return  circuit  for  a  wire  tele- 
graph system,  which  in  a  measure 
is  a  form  of  wireless  telegraphy  in 
the  embryonic  state;  and  what  is 
more,  the  work  of  Steinheil  caused 
much  attention  to  be  directed  to  the 
possibilities  of  communication  with- 
out wires.  Such  names  as  Trow- 
bridge,  Preece,  Rathenau,  Strecker, 
Morse,  Lindsay,  Willdns,  and  Mel- 
huish  have  been  associated  with  the 
conduction  of  electric  currents 
through  bodies  of  water  and  through 
moist  earth,  largely  through  the  in- 
spiration offered  by  Steinheil's  pio- 
neer work. 


Aside  from  the  conduction  method 
of  communication  suggested  by  the 
experiments  of  Steinheil,  electro- 
magnetic induction  between  parallel 
metallic  conductors  was  suggested 
and  studied  by  Trowbridge,  Preece, 
Lodge  and  Stevenson.  A  combina- 
tion of  the  conduction  and  induc- 
tion principles  also  was  the  subject 
of  much  experiment,  and  under  the 
guidance  of  Sir  William  Preece,  aid- 
ed by  the  British  Postal  Telegraph 
Engineers,  it  became  the  basis  of  a 
workable  system  of  wireless  com- 
munication for  short  distances.  How- 
ever, for  several  reasons  this  system 
did  not  lend  itself  to  commercial 
purposes,  and  hence  nothing  came 
of  it.  Still  another  workable  sys- 
tem of  communication  without  wires 
was  developed  by  Edison,  Gilliland, 
Phelps  and  W.  Smith,  utilizing  the 
principle  of  electrostatic  induction 
between  conductors  spaced  some  dis- 
tance apart.  The  latter  system  was 
primarily  intended  as  a  means  of 
communication  to  and  from  moving 
railway  trains. 

However  brilliant  may  have  been 
the  conceptions  of  the  various  pio- 
neer systems  already  referred  to,  the 
real  dawn  of  commercially  practi- 
cable wireless  communication  came 
with  the  scientific  investigation  of 
electromagnetic  waves,  resulting  in 
a  clear  understanding  of  the  genera- 
tion, propagation,  and  detection  of 
these  waves.  Credit  in  large  meas- 
ure is  due  Maxwell,  who,  in  1865, 
announced  his  remarkable  electro- 
magnetic theory  of  light.  But  Max- 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Inc. 


384 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


well's  work,  despite  its  profundity 
and  its  rich  and  invaluable  collec- 
tion of  mathematical  data,  was  pri- 
marily theoretical.  As  a  result,  its 
full  value  as  applied  to  the  propa- 
gation of  electromagnetic  waves  was 
not  realized  until  1888,  when  Hertz's 
discoveries  and  practical  investiga- 
tions again  attracted  attention  to 
the  subject.  The  work  of  this  young 
German  scientist  corroborated  the 
theories  of  Maxwell;  and  so  rich 
in  possibilities  was  the  field  opened 
by  Hertz  that  numerous  scientific 
workers  in  various  lands  set  upon 
the  task  of  acquiring  further  knowl- 
edge of  the  properties  of  the  electro- 
magnetic waves. 

Among  the  early  workers  in  the 
field  of  electromagnetic  transmission 
of  power  was  Nikola  Tesla,  who,  in 
1892,  conducted  a  series  of  specta- 
cular experiments  on  high  frequency 
electric  currents.  In  passing  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  Prof.  D.  E. 
Hughes,  according  to  a  paper  pre- 
pared by  Sir  William  Crookes  in 
1892,  developed  a  system  of  trans- 
mitting signals  a  few  hundred  yards 
without  connecting  wires,  using  a 
microphonic  detector  and  telephone 
receiver  for  the  receiving  station. 
It  appears  that  Prof.  Hughes  dis- 
covered the  remarkable  property  of 
loose-contact  filings  to  cohere  under 
the  influence  of  electromagnetic 
waves  as  far  back  as  1879;  but  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  he  did  not 
give  his  work  sufficient  publicity, 
some  twelve  years  later  Prof.  E. 
Branly  of  Paris  received  all  the 
credit  for  the  wireless  coherer,  which 
played  the  leading  part  in  the  pio- 
neer days  of  actual  radio  communi- 
cation. Using  Branly's  coherer  as 
a  basis,  wireless  communication  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Dr.  A.  Muir- 
head,  Capt.  H.  B.  Jackson,  R.N.,  and 
Prof.  R.  Threlfall,  as  well  as  Prof. 
A.  S.  Popoff  of  the  Imperial  Torpedo 
School  in  Cronstadt,  Russia,  besides 
many  other  lesser  known  investi- 
gators. 

Yet  all  that  had  been  done  until 
this  time  was  more  in  the  nature  of 


laying  a  substantial  foundation  for 
what  was  to  follow.  Much  of  the 
work  was  indeed  practicable;  but 
none  of  the  investigators  had  settled 
down  to  the  development  of  com- 
mercial wireless  communication. 

Then  came  Marconi.  This  young 
Italian  scientist,  born  at  Bologna, 
was  keenly  interested  in  the  work 
of  Prof.  Rhigi  of  the  University  of 
Bologna,  and  it  gave  him  the  idea 
for  commercial  wireless  telegraphy. 
June,  1895,  witnessed  the  young 
Italian  experimenting  with  sending 
and  receiving  apparatus  on  his 
father's  estate,  the  Villa  Griffone, 
near  Bologna.  To  relate  in  detail 
the  ramifications  of  Marconi's  early 
work  would  require  far  more  space 
than  can  be  devoted  to  this  entire 
wireless  chapter,  for  the  work  he 
undertook  was  slow  and  painstaking. 
Although  he  had  the  advantages  of 
using  various  ideas  developed  by  the 
early  investigators  and  of  combining 
these  into  a  wireless  system,  each 
idea  by  itself  was  crude  and  had 
to  be  systematically  developed. 
These  distances,  covered  with  Mar- 
coni's early  apparatus,  speak  vol- 
umes for  the  rate  of  progress  made 
by  him:  1895,  30,  100,  and  2,400 
meters,  or  1^  miles ;  1897,  14  miles ; 
1898,  20  miles ;  1899,  85  miles ;  1900, 
well  over  100  miles;  1901,  trans- 
atlantic transmission  of  the  letter 
"s"  in  the  Morse  code,  over  a  dis- 
tance of  2,200  miles.  In  the  years 
that  followed,  the  progress  made 
was  so  rapid  that  long-distance  com- 
munication has  now  become  quite 
commonplace. 

Radio  telegraphy,  as  we  know  it 
to-day,  is  not  the  invention  of  any 
one  man.  Not  unlike  all  other  great 
inventions  it  represents  the  labors 
of  numerous  investigators  and  in- 
ventors, many  known  to  us  and  many 
more  unknown  to  us.  Among  the 
better  known  later-day  contributors 
to  wireless  telegraphy  are  Lodge, 
Muirhead,  Salby,  von  Arco,  Braun, 
Fleming,  Fessenden,  DeForest,  Stone, 
Shoemaker,  Blondel,  Artom,  Pick- 
ard,  von  Lepel,  Poulsen,  and  Pierce. 


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OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


HOW  ELECTROMAGNETIC  WAVES  TRAVEL 
THROUGH    SPACE 

It  would  be  difficult  to  explain 
how  electromagnetic  waves,  which 
are  not  susceptible  to  our  senses, 
travel  from  a  wireless  transmitter 
to  a  receiver  at  the  astounding  rate 
of  186,300  miles  per  second,  were  it 
not  for  the  simple  analogy  offered 
by  a  body  of  still  water. 

Suppose  a  stone  is  thrown  into 
a  quiet  pool  of  water.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  waves  or  ripples  form 
in  perfect  circles  around  the  spot 
where  the  stone  struck  the  surface, 
spreading  out  in  ever-widening  cir- 
cles from  the  source.  The  ripples 
near  the  center  are  big  and  readily 
seen,  while  those  some  distance  away 
are  small  and  barely  discernible, 
finally  disappearing  altogether,  pro- 
vided the  body  of  water  is  sufficient- 
ly large.  In  other  words,  the  rip- 
ples are  largest  near  the  source  of 
disturbance,  but  lose  their  strength 
in  a  gradual  decrease  the  farther 
they  are  removed  from  the  source. 

Although  according  to  appearances 
the  waves  or  ripples  appear  to  form 
at  the  spot  where  the  stone  hit  the 
surface,  spreading  out  in  ever-widen- 
ing concentric  circles,  as  a  matter 
of  fact  they  form  at  the  immediate 
point  where  they  appear.  There  is 
absolutely  no  transference  of  water 
from  the  center  outward.  Instead, 
a  certain  amount  of  mechanical  en- 
ergy is  transmitted  through  the  body 
of  water,  producing  waves  or  rip- 
ples at  intervals.  The  water  merely 
acts  as  the  Conductor  for  the  energy 
imparted  to  it  by  the  impact  with 
the  stone.  This  may  be  readily 
proved  by  placing  a  small  chip  of 
wood  at  any  spot  a  short  distance 
from  the  source  of  the  disturbance: 
it  will  be  noted  that  the  chip  re- 
mains in  the  same  spot,  although  it 
rises  and  falls  following  the  up  and 
down  or  rolling  motion  of  the  wa- 
ter upon  which  it  rests.  If  there 
were  the  actual  movement  of  the 
water  from  the  center  outward,  the 
chip,  obviously,  would  move  along 
with  the  moving  water 


Much  in  the  same  manner  do  elec- 
tromagnetic waves  react  upon  space, 
or,  to  use  the  name  given  to  the 
medium  through  which  these  waves 
are  propagated,  ether.  Nothing  act- 
ually moves  through  ether  in  the 
transmission  of  signals  by  wireless; 
instead,  the  transmitting  apparatus 
imparts  energy  to  the  ether,  which 
in  turn  vibrates  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  the  pond  of  still  water. 
The  vibrations  spread  through  the 
ether  in  every  direction,  following 
the  contour  of  the  earth,  until  the 
force  is  spent.  Ether,  it  is  well  to 
mention  here,  is  a  substance  or  medi- 
um imagined  by  physicists  in  order 
to  explain  the  phenomena  of  light, 
radiant  heat,  and  electromagnetic 
waves.  The  waves  employed  in 
radio  communication  range  from  300 
feet  to  30,000  feet  in  length,  meas- 
ured from  one  crest  to  the  next, 
just  as  in  the  instance  of  the  rip- 
ples on  a  pond.  X-rays,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  a  length  of  about  2.5 
millionths  of  an  inch;  actinic  rays 
of  the  maximum  intensity/  10  mil- 
lionths of  an  inch;  light  rays,  from 
10  to  18  millionths  of  an  inch;  and 
heat  rays  of  maximum  intensity, 
about  15  millionths  of  an  inch. 

WIRELESS     TRANSMITTERS     AND     RE- 
CEIVERS 

For  wireless  communication  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  means  of  creat- 
ing and  imparting  electromagnetic 
waves  to  the  ether,  and  a  means  of 
intercepting  and  detecting  these 
same  electromagnetic  waves  at  a  re- 
mote point.  The  former  is  called 
a  transmitter,  or  sender,  while  the 
latter  is  known  as  the  receiver,  or 
receptor. 

The  most  common  form  of  trans- 
mitter is  one  in  which  the  electro- 
magnetic waves,  created  by  the 
discharge  of  a  condenser  across  a 
suitable  air  gap,  are  imparted  to  the 
ether  by  means  of  an  elevated  sys- 
tem of  insulated  conductors  known 
as  an  aerial,  and  a  connection  with 
the  earth  or  ground.  The  condenser 
receives  its  charging  current  from  a 
transformer  or  induction  coil,  and 


li 


Is. 


I5  2 


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§5 


!r 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


whenever  it  becomes  overcharged  it 
discharges  an  instant  later  across  a 
gap  in  circuit  with  it.  Since  the 
length  of  the  wave  generated  by 
a  spark  discharge  is  governed  by 
two  factors,  capacity  (the  measure 
for  the  storage  capacity  of  the  con- 
denser) and  inductance  (the  length 
of  conductor  in  the  wave-generating 
circuit),  the  circuit  includes  not  only 
the  condenser  and  spark  gap,  but 
a  variable  form  of  conductor  or  in- 
ductance, as  well.  The  latter  is  al- 
ways in  the  form  of  a  flat  spiral,  or 
a  helix.  The  adjustment  of  the 
capacity  and  inductance  in  the  wave- 
generating  circuit  is  known  as  tun- 
ing, just  as  a  musical  instrument  is 
adjusted  to  emit  a  note  of  a  desired 
pitch.  By  inserting  a  telegraph  key 
in  the  primary  circuit  of  the  trans- 
former, or  induction  coil,  it  becomes 
possible  to  generate  waves  at  will ; 
and  by  the  proper  manipulation  of 
the  telegraph  key,  an  operator  can 
emit  different  trains  of  waves  to 
correspond  with  the  dots  and  dashes 
of  any  telegraphic  code. 

There  are  other  methods  of  gen- 
erating electromagnetic  waves  aside 
from  a  condenser  charged  by  a  high 
tension  current  furnished  by  trans- 
former, or  spark  coil.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  the  high  fre- 
quency alternator,  capable  of 
generating  current  of  a  frequency, 
of  over  50,000  cycles  by  purely 
mechanical  means.  Several  gen- 
erators of  high  frequency  current 
have  been  built,  and  within  the  past 
few  years  considerable  progress  has 
been  made  along  this  line,  despite 
the  seemingly  unsurmountable  me- 
chanical obstacles  encountered  at 
the  beginning.  A  purely  mechanical 
means  of  creating  high  frequency 
current  suitable  for  the  electromag- 
netic wa^'as  employed  in  radio  tel- 
egraphy and  telephony  is  obviously 
the  most  desirable,  which  accounts 
for  the  persistent  efforts  of  inven- 
tors along  these  lines. 

Another  method  of  generating  high 
frequency  currents  is  found  in  the 
employment  of  some  form  of  low 


tension  arc,  across  the  terminals  of 
which  are  shunted  a  condenser  and 
a  variable  inductance.  With  such  an 
arrangement  high  frequency  current 
is  generated,  the  arc  acting  as  the 
gap  across  which  discharges  the  con- 
denser. Whereas  in  the  case  of  the 
usual  spark  transmitters  the  con- 
denser discharges  or  electromagnetic 
waves  take  place  in  the  form  of  sep- 
arate trains,  each  train  or  group 
comprising  a  number  of  sparks,  each 
succeeding  one  less  powerful  than 
the  one  before,  in  the  arc  generator 
the  waves  are  continuous  and  of  the 
same,  uniform  strength.  Thus  the 
spark  transmitters  have  come  to  be 
known  as  damped  wave  transmit- 
ters because  of  their  damped  waves, 
while  the  arc  transmitters  are  known 
as  undamped  wave  transmitters.  The 
damping  of  the  waves  lends  itself 
to  an  analogy  in  the  form  of  a  sim- 
ple pendulum:  In  the  undamped 
transmitter,  the  pendulum  would  be 
kept  swinging  an  equal  distance 
each  swing,  because  the  power  would 
be  imparted  so  to  accomplish  this 
regularity;  while  in  the  damped 
transmitter,  the  power  would  be  im- 
parted at  one  swing  and  not  again 
for  several  swings,  resulting  in  the 
pendulum  swinging  over  a  lesser  arc 
each  succeeding  swing  until  the 
power  were  again  imparted  to  the 
pendulum. 

The  electromagnetic  waves,  either 
of  the  damped  or  undamped  variety, 
chopped  up  in  short  and  long  trains 
to  represent  the  desired  characters 
of  any  telegraphic  code,  have  now 
been  propagated  through  ether.  The 
problem  is  not  only  to  intercept  them 
but  also  to  detect  their  presence. 

The  first  step  in  receiving  electro- 
magnetic waves  is  the  erection  of  a 
suitable  system  of  elevated,,  insu- 
lated wires,  known-  as  the  aerial  or 
antenna,  which  serves  to  intercept 
the  electromagnetic  waves,  and  to 
lead  the  currents  induced  in  the 
wires  down  through  the  receiving 
instruments  to  the  ground. 

The  heart  of  any  receiving  set  for 
wireless  telegraphy  is  that  member 


390 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


which  detects  the  presence  of  high 
frequency  currents  flowing  down 
through  the  aerial  and  receiving  ap- 
paratus. It  is  known  as  the  de- 
tector. In  the  pioneer  days  of  the 
art,  a  glass  tube  containing  two 
electrode  plugs  between  which  was 
placed  a  small  quantity  of  metallic 
filings,  served  the  purposes  of  detec- 
tor. The  action  of  the  filings  co- 
herer, as  this  detector  is  known,  is 
simple:  the  high  frequency  current 
passing  through  the  mass  of  loose 
filings  possesses  the  property  of 
causing  these  to  cohere  together  so 
as  to  make  a  better  contact  between 
the  two  metal  plugs.  The  lowering 
of  the  electrical  resistance  of  the 
filings  is  sufficient  to  permit  the  cur- 
rent of  a  local  battery  to  flow  across 
the  bridge  thus  formed  and  operate 
a  relay,  which  in  turn  operates  a 
Morse  register  that  prints  the  sig- 
nals in  the  form  of  dots  and  dashes 
on  a  paper  ribbon.  Some  suitable 
form  of  tapper  is  used  to  shake  the 
filings  apart  after  the  high  frequency 
currents  have  ceased  to  flow  through 
them.  The  tapper,  known  as  the 
decoherer,  is  usually  operated  by 
the  relay. 

The  filings  coherer,  while  possess- 
ing the  important  advantage  of  al- 
lowing a  Morse  register  to  be  used 
in  conjunction  with  it,  has  long 
since  ceased  to  be  employed  in  com- 
mercial wireless  work,  although  it 
remains  the  favorite  form  of  demon- 
stration apparatus  for  the  class- 
room. It  has  given  way  to  infinitely 
more  sensitive  detectors  which  are 
used  in  conjunction  with  telephone 
receivers  worn  on  the  head  of  the 
wireless  operator.  With  the  advent 
of  more  sensitive  detectors  the  range 
of  wireless  transmitters  has  jumped 
from  the  tens  of  miles  to  the  hun- 
dreds and  even  thousands  of  miles. 

So  numerous  and  varied  are  the 
wireless  detectors  of  to-day  that  even 
a  superficial  description  of  each  type 
is  precluded  by  space  limitations. 
Suffice  it  to  state  that  among  the 
most  popular  types  of  detectors  are 
the  crystal  rectifier,  utilizing  cer- 


tain minerals  and  crystal  formations 
such  as  iron  pyrites,  zincite,  bornite, 
galena,  silicon,  carborundum ;  the 
electrolytic  detector,  which,  while 
exceedingly  sensitive,  has  given  way 
to  the  first  type  because  of  the  great- 
er convenience  of  the  crystal  detec- 
tors; the  magnetic  detector,  which 
would  be  a  truly  ideal  type  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  its  sensitive- 
ness is  of  a  rather  low  order;  and 
the  audion,  which  is  the  most  suc- 
cessful detector  and  the  one  in  most 
general  use  to-day. 

Aside  from  the  detector,  a  wire- 
less receiving  set  comprises  a  tele- 
phone receiver  or  receivers,  and  ad- 
justable condensers  and  coils  for 
changing  the  capacity  and  induc- 
tance of  the  receiving  circuit  to  tune 
it  to  any  length  of  wave  desired. 
If  a  transmitter  is  emitting  waves 
of  a  length  of  400  meters,  for  ex- 
ample, a  receiving  set  must  be  tuned 
to  the  neighborhood  of  400  meters 
in  order  to  receive  the  waves.  And 
while  it  is  tuned  to  receive  those 
waves,  other  wraves  of  other  wave- 
lengths will  not  be  heard  in  the  re- 
ceivers of  the  operator.  Thus  it  is 
possible  for  several  transmitting  set? 
to  be  operating  in  one  locality  at  the 
same  time,  while  the  same  number  of 
receiving  sets  are  receiving,  each 
from  the  desired  transmitter,  with- 
out interference  from  other  trans- 
mitters. Tuned  or  syntonic  wireless 
has  reached  a  high  degree  of  develop- 
ment to-day,  although  much  remains 
to  be  accomplished. 

After  having  developed  their  de- 
tectors to  the  highest  possible  de- 
gree of  sensitiveness,  wireless  men 
were  confronted  with  the  problem  of 
increasing  still  farther  the  range  of 
receiving  apparatus.  Solution  was 
found  in  the  introduction  of  ampli- 
fiers, or  magnifiers  of  the  weak  cur- 
rents in  the  detector  circuit.  Some 
form  of  magnifiers  are  in  reality  an 
ordinary  telephone  circuit,  in  that 
the  receiver,  connected  to  the  de- 
tector, is  capped  over  a  microphone 
transmitter,  which  in  turn  is  elec- 
trically connected  to  a  powerful  bat- 


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50     M 
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392 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


tery  and  another  telephone  receiver. 
Thus  the  faint  sounds  of  the  first 
telephone  receiver  are  spoken  into 
the  microphone,  which  in  turn  im- 
presses them  on  a  circuit  contain- 
ing a  loud-speaking  receiver,  or,  at 
least,  a  receiver  that  produces  loud 
sounds  in  the  ears  of  the  operator. 
Other  forms  of  amplifiers  utilize  a 
modified  form  of  the  audion  detec- 
tor. In  the  one-step  amplifiers  of 
this  type,  an  amplification  or  mag- 
nification of  from  6  to  10  times  is 
attained;  in  the  two-step  amplifier 
from  60  to  100 ;  and  in  the  three-step 
from  600  to  1,000,  according  to  Dr. 
DeForest,  the  inventor  of  the  audion 
amplifier.  Thus  it  will  be  appreci- 
ated that  the  sensitiveness  of  the 
detector  is  materially  improved  by 
the  use  of  an  amplifier;  and  it  is 
the  combination  of  highly  sensitive 
detectors  and  amplifiers  more  than 
anything  else  that  accounts  for  the 
remarkable  long-distance  communi- 
cation of  present-day  wireless. 

TELEPHONY    WITHOUT    WIRES 

Wireless  telephony  differs  from 
wireless  telegraphy  only  in  details; 
for  in  general  principles  involved 
they  are  identical.  If  the  wave 
trains  of  a  spark  transmitter  were 
sufficiently  close  together  to  be  above 
the  range  of  audibility  when  received 
in  the  telephone  receivers  of  the 
operator  at  the  receiving  station,  it 
would  be  but  a  matter  of  a  few 
slight  changes,  such  as  replacing  the 
telegraph  key  with  a  microphone,  to 
convert  the  average  wireless  tele- 
graph transmitter  into  a  radio  tele- 
phone set. 

As  it  is,  the  requirements  of  suc- 
cessful radio  telephony  begin  with 
a  generator  of  undamped  waves  of 
very  high  frequency,  so  that  the 
wave  trains  when  received  are  above 
the  range  of  audibility. 

Until  recently  some  form  of  elec- 
tric arc  was,  and  still  is,  employed 
for  generating  the  high  frequency 
current  for  a  radio  telephone  trans- 
mitter. Although  on  occasions  fair 
success  attends  the  employment  of 


arc  generators,  a  radio  telephone  sys- 
tem based  on  the  use  of  such  gen- 
erators cannot  be  the  ideal  system 
of  the  future.  An  electric  arc  is 
necessarily  unsteady;  its  electrodes 
usually  burn  away  at  a  high  rate, 
resulting  in  sputtering  and  frequent 
readjustment  to  bring  the  electrodes 
closer  together  to  make  up  for  the 
consumption  of  electrode  material. 
A  constant  variation  in  the  consump- 
tion of  current  results  in  fluctuations 
in  the  high  frequency  current,  which 
is  fatal  to  clear  transmission.  Yet, 
despite  the  shortcomings  of  the  elec- 
tric arc  as  a  generator  of  high  fre- 
quency currents,  much  progress  has 
been  made  with  it  by  numerous  in- 
vestigators. 

A  Danish  investigator,  Poulsen, 
has  done  much  toward  applying 
and  improving  the  arc  generator  for 
wireless  telephone  purposes.  More 
recently,  Colin  and  Jeance  of  France 
have  done  considerable  work  on  an 
arc  telephone,  on  occasions  succeed- 
ing in  communicating  over  a  range 
of  several  hundred  miles.  In  Amer- 
ica, Dubillier,  Collins,  DeForest  and 
other  investigators  have  in  the  past 
devoted  considerable  attention  to  the 
arc  generator  with  a  fair  degree  of 
success. 

Outside  of  the  microphone,  which 
must  be  able  to  handle  large  vol- 
umes of  current  without  injury,  in 
a  wireless  telephone  set  the  arc  gen- 
erator is  the  center  of  interest;  and 
likewise  it  is  true  that  the  generator 
is  the  point  of  divergence  between  the 
various  systems.  The  Janke  system, 
for  instance,  is  a  variation  of  the 
Poulsen  arc,  in  that  the  arc  is  placed 
in  liquid  alcohol  to  insure  greater 
steadiness.  To  impress  the  voice  on- 
the  high  frequency  current,  a  special 
water-cooled  multiple  microphone  is 
used.  The  TYK  system,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  not  an  American  sys- 
tem like  the  former,  but  a  Japanese 
system  developed  by  Torikato.  Its 
chief  value  lies  in  its  utmost  sim- 
plicity. The  system  consists  of  a 
500-volt  arc  between  points  of  burnt 
magnetite  and  brass,  shunted  by  a 


*  1 

*  g 


394 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


circuit  with  a  rather  large  capacity 
and  a  small  inductance.  A  heavy-cur- 
rent microphone  is  placed  in  series 
with  the  aerial.  Although  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  TYK  system  is  really 
an  arc  system,  the  inventor  is  of 
the  opinion  that  the  result  produced 
is  a  quenched  spark  of  spark  fre- 
quency beyond  the  limit  of  audibil- 
ity. By  a  "quenched  spark"  is  meant 
a  discharge  that  does  not  oscillate 
to  any  appreciable  extent;  in  other 
words,  the  discharge  rapidly  dies 
out  or  it  is  highly  damped. 

Various  quenched  spark  systems 
have  also  been  tried,  notably  that  of 
Ditcham,  but  as  a  general  thing 
systems  based  on  the  use  of  quenched 
spark  generators  do  not  possess 
good  speech  quality.  The  speech 
quality  of  the  TYK  system  is  re- 
ported to  be  poor,  which  confirms, 
to  some  extent,  the  belief  that  its 
generator  is  a  form  of  quenched 
spark  gap. 


High  frequency  alternator  sys- 
tems have  been  used  as  far  back  as 
1906  by  Fessenden,  but  as  in  the 
case  of  their  application  to  wire- 
less telegraphy,  even  to-day  they  are 
considered  largely  in  the  light  of  ex- 
periments because  of  their  prohibi- 
tive cost,  their  low  frequency  and 
consequently  long  wave  length,  and 
the  difficulty  of  speed  regulation. 

The  reaction  vacuum  tube  sys- 
tems are  the  last  word  in  radio  tele- 
phony, and  judging  from  the  results 
obtained  thus  far  with  them  there 
can  be  but  little  doubt  that  they 
possess  the  qualities  of  the  ideal 
apparatus  of  the  future.  Marconi, 
DeForest,  and  others  have,  of  late, 
investigated  the  possibilities  of  the 
reaction  vacuum  tube  in  connection 
with  radio  telephony.  DeForest  has 
developed  a  tube  which  is  a  modi- 
fication of  his  audion  amplifier. 
Known  as  the  oscillion  bulb  or 
tube,  this  generator,  together  with 


WIRELESS  TELEPHONE  APPARATUS  USED  WITH  SUCCESS  BY  COLIN  AND  JEANCE  OF 
FRANCE   IN   TRANSMITTING  THE   SPOKEN  WORD   OVER  SEVERAL HUNDRED  MILES 


WIRELESS  TELEGRAPHY  AND  TELEPHONY 


395 


a  potentiometer  for  close  regulation, 
filament  rheostat,  impedance  coils, 
loading  inductance,  telephone  trans- 
former coil,  microphone  transmitter, 
fixed  condenser  and  minor  accessor- 
ies, a  current  supply  for  the  filament 
and  another  of  150  to  300  volts  for 
the  production  of  the  high  frequency 
currents,  forms  a  complete  radio  tel- 
ephone for  short  distance  transmis- 
sion. For  long  distance  work  a  num- 
ber of  oscillions  are  employed,  to- 
gether with  a  higher  voltage — as 
high  as  1,500  volts  for  a  set  with  a 
range  of  150  to  200  miles. 

Wireless  telephony  owes  much  to 
the  work  of  the  engineers  of  the 
American  Telephone  &  Telegraph 
Company  who,  in  the  latter  part  of 
1915,  succeeded  in  telephoning  by 
wireless  from  "Washington  to  Paris, 
and  from  Washington  to  Hawaii,  the 
latter  a  distance  of  4,900  miles.  It 
is  understood  that  a  form  of  reaction 
vacuum  tube  was  employed  in  large 
numbers  in  generating  the  high  fre- 
quency currents  required. 

At  the  present  moment  it  seems 
that  wireless  telephony,  long  a  lab- 
oratory experiment,  is  at  last  a  com- 
mercially practicable  means  of  com- 
munication. Even  so,  however,  the 
great  expense  of  installations  for 
long  distance  work  may  cause  its 
universal  use  to  be  postponed  for 
years  to  come,  although  it  is  -safe 
to  prophesy  the  widespread  employ- 
ment of  short-distance  wireless  tele- 
phone sets  for  ship-to-shore  com- 
munication in  the  immediate  future. 

HOW     THE     WORLD     USES     WIRELESS 
TELEGRAPHY 

The  later-day  pioneers  in  wireless 
telegraphy,  even  in  their  wildest 
flights  of  fancy,  never  realized  to 
what  extent  their  work  would  play 
a  part  in  the  commercial  world  and 
in  military  and  naval  affairs.  True, 
they  prophesied  the  transmission  of 
energy  by  means  of  electromagnetic 
waves  on  a  vast  scale,  and  even  to- 
day there  does  not  appear  to  be 
much  promise  of  success  along  these 
lines.  But  the  fact  remains  that 


communication  without  wires  has 
been  applied  to  a  wide  range  of 
uses  other  than  those  originally 
planned. 

Ship-to-ship  and  ship-to-shore  com- 
munication was  the  original  aim  of 
wireless  men — radio  telegraphy  was 
to  be  a  maritime  invention.  To-day 
the  greatest  employment  of  wireless 
remains  on  the  water  rather  than  on 
land;  and  always  will  its  greatest 
field  be  on  shipboard.  There  is  hard- 
ly an  ocean-going  vessel  carrying 
passengers  that  is  not  equipped  with 
wireless,  for  laws  have  been  enacted 
obliging  such  ships  to  carry  radio 
apparatus  because  of  the  security  it 
affords  the  traveler  on  water.  So 
numerous  and  powerful  are  the  land 
stations  operating  in  conjunction  with 
the  ships  that  it  is  very  seldom  in- 
deed when  a  ship  is  out  of  touch  with 
land.  Ocean  travelers  receive  the 
news  of  the  world  every  day,  which 
is  flashed  out  by  powerful  stations 
in  America  and  Europe. 

Serious  work  has  been  done  in  es- 
tablishing radio  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone communication  between  mov- 
ing trains,  notably  that  of  the  Lack- 
awanna  Railroad.  Although  on  cer- 
tain occasions  a  range  of  between 
fifty  and  one  hundred  miles  has  been 
covered  between  a  moving  train  and 
fixed  station,  the  results  on  the 
whole  have  not  been  satisfactory. 
Perhaps  it  is  that  the  tests  have  been 
premature,  and  that  a  suitable  sys- 
tem of  communication,  somewhat 
different  from  existing  ones,  must  be 
developed  for  this  particular  pur- 
pose. Employing  an  aerial  eighteen 
inches  above  the  roof  of  a  steel  car, 
which  is  obviously  grounded  through 
the  rails,  it  becomes  evident  that  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  secure  any 
distance  with  a  wireless  apparatus 
installed  and  operated  under  these 
conditions. 

The  European  War  has  given 
especial  impetus  to  wireless,  partic- 
ularly as  applied  to  aircraft.  In  de- 
signing radio  apparatus  for  airships 
and  aeroplanes  due  consideration 
must  be  given  to  the  extremely  lim- 


396 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ited  space  available  on  such  craft, 
and  the  limited  weight  that  can  be 
carried.  In  the  case  of  aeroplanes 
the  guy  wires  and  other  metallic 
parts  of  the  machine  are  generally 
used  as  the  ground  (the  capacity 
ground),  while  the  aerial  is  in  the 
form  of  a  trailing  wire  that  is  paid 
out  from  a  reel  after  the  machine 
has  reached  the  proper  height.  Most 
aeroplane  sets  have  a  range  of  from 
five  to  thirty-five  miles,  and  because 
of  the  intense  noise  and  vibration 
of  the  engines  it  is  a  very  difficult 
matter  to  receive  messages  on  board ; 
in  fact,  military  operations  make 
due  allowance  for  this  condition  and 
depend  upon  the  aeroplane  wireless 
operator  to  devote  his  attention  al- 
most exclusively  to  sending. 

On  board  airships  of  the  Zeppelin 
or  the  flexible  types  it  is  possible  to 
employ  more  powerful  apparatus, 
hence  a  greater  range  can  be  cov- 
ered. A  typical  airship  installation 
consists  of  a  transformer,  quenched 
spark  gap,  capacity  and  induc- 
tance, aerial  wire  lowered  down 
from  a  winch,  ammeter,  rapid-change 
switch  for  different  wave-lengths, 
and  an  alternating  current  generator 
driven  off  one  of  the  engines  of  the 
airship.  Such  a  set,  weighing  about 
fifty-five  pounds  without  the  alter- 
nator, has  a  range  between  60  and 
120  miles.  The  aerial  wire  is  over 
600  feet  long  when  fully  paid  out. 

Armies  in  the  field  employ  porta- 
ble wireless  sets  for  insuring  com- 
munication between  scattered  com- 
mands. Some  sets  for  use  in  rugged 
country  are  arranged  to  be  carried 
on  mule-back,  and  are  known  as 
pack  sets.  But  the  most  common 
wireless  sets  are  those  mounted  on 
two  wagons,  one  for  the  generating 
equipment  and  the  other  for  the 
wireless  apparatus  proper.  The 
aerial  of  these  sets  is  arranged  in 
the  form  of  an  umbrella,  spreading 
out  in  all  directions  from  a  common 
pole.  The  latter  is  usually  of  alum- 
inum or  an  alloy  of  that  metal,  made 
up  of  a  number  of  sections  which 
can  be  readily  coupled  together. 


Within  five  minutes  a  mast  of  this 
kind  can  be  erected,  together  with 
the  aerial  and  the  Counterpoise  or 
capacity  ground.  Still  another  form 
of  portable  military  set  is  the  auto- 
mobile truck  set,  which  is  carried 
as  one  unit  on  a  powerful  motor 
truck,  and  has  a  range  of  well  over 
one  hundred  miles  under  favorable 
conditions. 

The  European  War  has  served  to 
demonstrate  the  value  of  long-dis- 
tance wireless  stations  for  maintain- 
ing communication  between  widely 
separated  countries.  Germany  has 
set  a  mark  in  the  art  by  maintain- 
ing telegraphic  communication  with 
neutral  countries  after  finding 
herself  surrounded  by  enemies  on  all 
sides  and  isolated  from  the  outside 
world.  Through  the  wireless  station 
at  Nauen,  near  Berlin,  the  German 
authorities  have  been  able  to  give 
each  day  to  the  neutral  world  the 
news  of  the  war  from  the  Teuton 
point  of  view,  without  danger  of  the 
news  being  censored  or  altered  in 
any  way  by  enemy  powers.  Much  of 
the  telegraphic  traffic  between  Ger- 
many and  the  United  States  during 
the  war  has  been  handled  through 
the  Nauen  and  Eilvese  stations  in 
Germany,  and  the  Tuckerton  and 
Sayville  stations  in  the  United 
States. 

The  Allied  powers  too,  although 
not  isolated  from  the  outside  world, 
have  made  good  use  of  wireless  tel- 
egraphy in  keeping  in  touch  with 
each  other  and  in  maintaining  com- 
munications between  their  scattered 
armies  throughout  the  globe.  It  is 
understood  that  the  Allies  in  the 
West  and  Russia  have  kept  in  touch 
by"  wireless  telegraphy,  the  Eiffel 
tower  having  been  used  in  the  West, 
and  a  powerful  station  at  Petrograd, 
for  the  purpose.  Wireless  has  also 
been  employed  to  an  unprecedented 
degree  in  keeping  in  touch  with  war- 
craft  of  all  kinds,  even  to  the  sub- 
marine boats  fitted  with  folding 
masts  that  can  be  hastily  erected  to 
support  an  aerial  when  the  craft 
are  on  the  surface. 


WIRELESS  TELEGRAPHY  AND  TELEPHONY 


397 


Upon  the  completion  of  the*  Euro- 
pean War  a  great  chain  of  wireless 
stations  encircling  the  globe  will 
be  put  into  operation.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  these  stations  may  soon 
prove  a  formidable  competitor  to  the 
cables,  although  it  is  doubtful  if  they 
can  ever  be  more  than  a  supplement 
to  the  older  form  of  inter-continental 
communication.  M'any  of  the  world- 
encircling  wireless  stations  repre- 
sent the  very  latest  phase  of  the  art, 
with  ranges  of  thousands  of  miles, 
and  arranged  to  receive  and  transmit 
messages  simultaneously  and  with- 
out interference. 

Among  other  uses  of  wireless  is 
the  collection  and  distribution  of 


weather  information  to  seamen  and 
others,  which  service  is  of  great 
value  to  all  mankind.  Wireless  has 
also  been  applied  with  success  to 
the  problems  of  higher  surveying, 
particularly  by  the  French  in  the 
Sahara  and  on  the  Congo  in  Africa, 
and  by  Capt.  Edwards  on  the  boun- 
dary between  Brazil  and  Bolivia.  A 
careful  comparison  of  time  between 
distant  points  has  also  been  rendered 
possible  by  wireless,  which,  because 
of  the  high  velocity  at  which  the 
electromagnetic  waves  travel,  can  be 
considered  as  being  practically  an 
instantaneous  means  of  communica- 
tion for  such  distances  as  are  en- 
countered on  this  earth. 


RECENT  WIRELESS  TELEPHONE  APPARATUS  DEVELOPED  BY  DR.  LEE  DE  FOREST, 
EMPLOYING   THE   OSCILLION   OR   OSCILLATING-VALVE   FORM   OF    GENERATOR 


MOVING  PICTURE  ACTORS  IN  SELF-CONTAINED  DIVING  SUITS,  TAKING  PART  IN 
AN  UNDERWATER   PHOTOPLAY  SCENE 


CHAPTER  IV. 
MOTION  PICTURES  IN  THE  MAKING 

By  AUSTIN  C.   LESCARBOURA 


PERHAPS  it  is  because  pictures 
are  the  ultimate  universal  lan- 
guage that  a  world-wide  fascina- 
tion attaches  to  motion  pictures  and 
their  production.  Or  it  may  be  due 
to  the  romance  of  picture  making — 
the  story  in  back  of  the  screen  story, 
which  so  often  excels  the  tale  of  the 
film  in  point  of  human  interest. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  reason, 
the  fact  stands  that  no  modern  in- 
dustry commands  as  great  interest 
among  the  multitudes  as  motion  pic- 


tures, not  only  in  the  finished  prod- 
uct but  in  the  manufacturing 
processes. 

PHOTOGRAPHS    BY    THE    THOUSANDS 

From  a  purely  mechanical  point 
of  view,  motion  pictures  are  nothing 
more  than  a  number  of  photographs 
of  any  one  object  or  group  of  ob- 
jects taken  at  frequent  intervals  on 
a  strip  of  film.  The  exposures  are 
made  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  per 
second;  and  each  picture — a  photo- 


ARTISANS  OF  THE  FILMS,   THEIR  STOCKROOM  AND  THEIR  WORKSHOP 

(1)    Carpenters,   painters  and   electricians   at  work   in   the   erection   of  a   Vitagraph  Bet. 

(2)    Where    the    furniture    employed    in    Lasky    motion    picture    productions    is 

stored.      (3)    The   woodworking    shop    of    the    Lasky    western    studio 

Copyright   by   Munn    &    Co..    Inc. 


400 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


graph  as  perfect  as  the  best  of  lenses 
and  the  highest  photographic  skill 
can  produce — measures  but  one  inch 
in  width  by  three-quarters  inch  in 
height.  Perforations  are  provided 
along  either  edge  of  the  film,  with 
which  the  mechanism  of  the  camera 
engages  for  the  purpose  of  intermit- 
tently drawing  the  celluloid  strip 
through  the  rays  of  light  coming  in 
through  the  lens,  the  object  being 
to  move  the  film  a  trifle  over  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  each  time  an 
exposure  has  been  made,  so  as  to 
bring  a  fresh  section  of  film  in  the 
path  of  the  light  rays. 

The  film  that  is  exposed  in  the 
camera  is  generally  a  negative.  It 
is  developed  in  much  the  same  man- 
ner as  an  amateur  film,  although 
its  great  length  calls  for  the  em- 
ployment of  a  rack  or  a  drum  on 
which  to  wind  it  in  order  to  facili- 
tate handling.  The  negative  devel- 
oped and  dried,  it  is  passed  through 
a  printing  machine  together  with 
fresh  unexposed  positive  stock  so  as 
to  make  as  many  positive  prints  as 
may  be  required.  It  is  the  positive 
print  of  any  motion  picture  produc- 
tion that  is  passed  through  the  pro- 
jecting machines  in  theaters  and 
viewed  on  the  screen  by  the  millions. 

But  let  us  look  in  back  of  the 
screen :  let  us  glance  into  the  activi- 
ties of  those  who  make  the  film  pro- 
ductions possible,  but  who  always 
remain  unknown  to  the  audience, 
while  the  actors  who  perform  no 
greater  part  in  the  work  become 
famous. 

A    SUBMARINE    THAT    NEVER    SAW 
THE    SEA 

The  audience  is  tense  with  excite- 
ment as  the  hero  in  the  film  play 
struggles  frantically  with  the  con- 
trol apparatus  of  a  submarine  that 
is  fast  sinking  to  the  ocean  bottom, 
because  of  the  constantly  rising 
water  in  its  hold.  And  as  he  strug- 
gles at  his  post  the  water  pours  in 
on  him  through  an  ugly  gash  made 
in  the  conning  tower  of  the  craft 
by  an  enemy  destroyer.  Perhaps  it 
is  the  climax  in  a  gripping  drama, 


then  again,  it  may  be  the  big  scene 
or  "punch"  in  a  hilarious  comedy. 
But,  however  that  may  be,  the  real- 
ism of  the  scene  has  the  desired 
effect  on  the  audience.  What  dan- 
gers these  motion  picture  folk  incur 
in  their  daily  work !  is  the  general 
comment  of  the  unsuspecting  public. 

Several  months  ago  the  scene  in 
question  was  acted,  not,  as  might 
be  supposed,  in  the  interior  of  a 
submarine,  but  in  a  quiet  corner  of 
a  motion  picture  studio.  The  "sub- 
marine" was  an  elaborate  structure 
of  wood,  metal,  and  plenty  of  paint ; 
life-sized  to  be  sure,  but  only  of  a 
sufficient  length  or  depth  to  repre- 
sent the  particular  compartment 
portrayed  in  the  picture  story. 

For  weeks  the  artisans  of  the  stu- 
dio workshops  had  worked  in  build- 
ing this  pseudo  submarine ;  and  be- 
fore the  camera  crank  was  turned 
the  technical  director  had  gone  over 
every  detail  of  its  construction  to 
make  sure  that  it  emulated  success- 
fully the  interior  of  a  modern  sub- 
marine. Then  the  studio  hands 
built  a  tank  around  the  scenery. 
The  "set,"  as  the  scenery  for  a 
studio  scene  is  called,  was  now 
ready  for  the  director. 

The  director,  being  unable  to 
carry  out  his  programme  of  photo- 
graphing certain  outdoor  or  "loca- 
tion" scenes  on  a  certain  day  because 
of  rain  or  poor  light,  decided  to  stay 
at  the  studio  and  photograph  the  in- 
terior scenes  called  for  in  the 
scenario  or  working  plan  of  his  pic- 
ture. After  rehearsing  the  action 
of  this  particular  scene  several 
times,  the  lamps  flashed  up  and  the 
camera  man  took  his  place  by  the 
side  of  his  camera.  At  the  com- 
mand of  the  director  one  of  the 
stage  hands  climbed  up  on  the  deck 
of  the  "submarine,"  pulling  a  heavy 
hose  after  him,  which  he  placed  in 
the  opening  of  the  conning  tower. 
The  water  was  turned  on,  and  it 
flowed  through  the  hose  and  passed 
down  upon  the  back  of  the  actor 
playing  the  part  of  the  hero-sailor 
struggling  with  the  control  mechan- 
ism of  a  balky  underwater  craft. 


MOTION    PICTURES    IN    THE    MAKING 


401 


The  water,  bounded  on  all  sides  by 
the  improvised  tank  of  wood  and 
rubberized  canvas,  slowly  rose  in 
the  "submarine"  interior.  The  cam- 
era, which  all  the  while  was  record- 
ing the  action,  was  naturally  so 
focused  as  to  take  in  only  the  de- 
sired portion  of  the  setting — the 
sides  of  the  tank  did  not  show  in 
the  film.  The  scene  was  a  success. 
Typical  of  the  striving  of  all 
American  producers  for  realism  is 
the  foregoing  instance.  A  half 
dozen  years  ago  the  audience  of  the 
average  picture  theater  was  not  as 
critical  as  the  audience  of  to-day. 
Formerly  a  director  depended  solely 
upon  a  good  story  and  fair  acting 
to  make  a  film  production  a  suc- 
cess ;  whereas  to-day  the  director 
strives  to  reinforce  these  two  essen- 


have  even  the  most  insignificant 
details  accurate  and  confidence- 
inspiring. 

JACKS — AND  MASTERS — OF  ALL  TRADES 

No  motion  picture  studio  would 
be  complete  without  its  carpenter 
shop  and  staff  of  expert  workmen. 
There  are  so  many  things  that  must 
be  built  especially  for  the  pictures 
that  a  complete  equipment  of  wood- 
working and  metalworking  machines 
and  a  skilled  gathering  of  artisans 
are  an  absolute  necessity. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  describe 
with  any  pretense  to  thoroughness 
the  range  of  work  turned  out  by  the 
studio  workshops.  It  is  only  by 
offering  a  few  examples  of  what 
they  do  regularly  that  a  general  idea 
of  the  scope  of  their  toil  can  be 


BACKGROUNDS  MADE  TO  ORDER  TO  FIT  THE  FILM  STORIES 
(1)  A  set  representing  the  living  room  of  a  country  home.     Note  how  the  stairway  at 
the   left  terminates  in   a   wooden   platform,   beyond   the   range   of   the   camera,   in   this   Than- 
houscr  set.     (2)  A  set  representing  an  office.     The  players  at  the  left  do  not  appear  in  the 
Gaumont  film  being  produced,   for  they  are  out  of  the  range  of  the  camera. 


tials  with  the  utmost  realism  of 
scenery.  It  is  imperative,  claim  the 
producers,  that  the  pictures  be  re- 
plete with  realism,;  the  audience 
must  not  be  permitted  to  recall  the 
fact  that  after  all  the  scenes  in 
many  instances  are  but  improvised 
backgrounds  and  the  necessary 
pieces  of  furniture  taken  from  the 
stock  room  or  property  room  of  the 
studio.  In  brief,  the  audience  must 
be  made  to  forget  the  mechanical 
end  of  picture  production;  and  to 
this  end  every  effort  is  made  to 


gained.  One  day  they  may  be  build* 
ing  a  safe  of  light  wood  or  com- 
pressed paper  —  accurately  made 
even  to  the  bolt  mechanism — which 
may  bring  forth  roars  of  laughter 
from  an  audience  months  hence  when 
it  is  dropped  on  the  head  of  one  of 
the  comedians  in  a  film  play.  They 
may  be  called  upon  to  build  an 
aeroplane,  closely  following  the 
lines  of  a  genuine  machine  that  is 
to  be  used  in  the  scenes  of  actual 
flying.  The  workmen  may  perhaps 
put  in  one  or  two  weeks'  work  in 


402 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


building  the  aeroplane,  exercising 
much  ingenuity  in  its  construction. 
As  likely  as  not  the  tires  of  the 
landing  gear  may  be  made  from 
short  lengths  of  rubber  hose  or  can- 
vas tube,  filled  with  sawdust.  And 
the  same  degree  of  ingenuity  may  be 
repeated  a  dozen  times  or  more  in 
the  construction  of  the  machine ;  all 
this  work  to  appear  for  a  few  sec- 
onds on  the  screen,  and  probably 
doomed  to  be  blown  to  pieces  or 
burned  to  ashes.  The  men  may  turn 
to  the  construction  of  a  mirth-pro- 
voking hose-cart  or  fire-wagon  for 
the  fire  department  of  some  imag- 
inary rural  community.  Again,  his- 
torical or  period  plays  may  keep  the 
artisans  busy  building  a  replica  of 
the  first  steamboat,  or  making  an 
old  stage-coach,  or  a  Roman  gladia- 
tor's weapons  and  shield,  or  even, 
an  ancient  catapult.  All  these  things 
are  in  the  day's  work. 

In  a  recent  war  play,  "The  Fall 
of  a  Nation,"  four  huge  siege  guns 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  battle 
scenes  between  defenders  and  in- 
vaders. Each  gun  was  a  faithful 
reproduction  of  the  famous  Krupp 
28-millimeter  siege  howitzers,  mount- 
ed on  caterpillar  wheels.  When 
seen  on  the  screen,  even  a  military 
expert  would  be  apt  to  mistake  the 
guns  for  their  counterparts  busily 
engaged  on  European  battlefields.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  these 
"guns"  were  made  of  wood,  and  at 
the  time  represented  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  intricate  pieces  of  work 
yet  undertaken  by  the  film  artisans. 
They  were  a  faithful  copy  of  the 
actual  pieces,  even  down  to  the  re- 
coil cylinders  which  actually  func- 
tioned following  the  explosion  of  a 
charge  of  black  powder  in  the  metal- 
lined  barrel.  The  guns  were  said  to 
have  cost  the  producers  of  the  film 
some  $10,000  each,  and  although  the 
amount  appears  rather  high  at  first, 
nevertheless  it  serves  to  accentuate 
the  great  amount  of  preliminary  re- 
search work  and  designing  that  had 
to  be  carried  out  before  the  actual 
construction  began.  And  here  again 
the  producers  insisted  that  if  the 


guns  were  to  be  used  at  all,  they 
must  be  accurate  enough  to  pass 
before  the  most  critical  audience 
without  arousing  undue  suspicions. 

The  producer  of  a  submarine 
story,  which,  in  its  main  essentials, 
closely  follows  the  theme  of  Jules 
Verne's  "Twenty  Thousand  Leagues 
Under  the  Sea,"  recently  endeavored 
to  secure  the  loan  of  a  United  States 
submarine  from  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment, without  success,  so  the  story 
goes.  Whereupon  he  set  out  to  build 
a  submarine  of  sheet  iron,  with  a 
length  of  over  100  feet,  a  beam  of 
15  feet,  and  a  draft  of  4  feet.  The 
shell  had  to  be  of  sufficient  strength 
to  withstand  a  submergence  of  forty 
feet  deep.  By  means  of  tanks  the 
submarine  could  take  on  water  in 
order  to  settle  down  beneath  the 
waves,  while  compressed  air  tanks 
permitted  of  blowing  out  the  water 
ballast  when  the  craft  was  to  be 
brought  up  to  the  surface  again. 
The  submarine  was  fitted  with  a 
torpedo  tube  capable  of  discharging 
a  regulation  torpedo.  In  all,  six 
months'  time  was  expended  in  build- 
ing this  submarine,  which  closely 
followed  the  lines  of  the  "Nautilus," 
the  famous  craft  of  Captain  Nemo; 
indeed,  the  Navy  submarines  were 
hardly  suitable  to  represent  the  fic- 
titious craft,  which  may  have  been 
one  reason  why  the  producer  de- 
cided to  construct  a  special  sub- 
mersible, fitted  with  a  lock  in  its 
bottom  through  which  divers  wear- 
ing self-contained  suits  could  pass 
out  to  the  ocean  floor. 

In  a  certain  production,  "The 
World  and  the  Woman,"  there  was 
to  be  a  garden  scene  during  a  thun- 
der storm.  One  of  the  features  of 
the  scene  was  a  driving  rain,  while 
another  was  a  flash  of  lightning. 
The  scenario  called  for  these  things ; 
there  was  nothing  for  the  studio 
artisans  to  do  but  to  produce  the 
desired  effect. 

An  aeroplane  propellei  was 
mounted  on  a  substantial  support, 
and  to  it  was  applied  the  power  of 
an  electric  motor  through  belting. 
An  artificial  garden  set  was  soon 


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404 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


arranged  and  housed  in  a  suitable 
shelter  to  make  it  dark— the  photo- 
graphing took  place  in  the  yard  of 
the  studio,  in  the  middle  of  a  beau- 
tiful day.  Above  the  set  was  ar- 
ranged a  trough,  perforated  with 
many  holes  to  allow  water  to  drop 
below  on  the  scenery.  When  every- 
thing was  ready,  the  electric  motor 
was  started,  causing  the  aeroplane 
propeller  to  blow  up  a  veritable  hur- 
ricane through  the  set.  Stage  hands 
with  watering  cans  began  to  pour 
water  into  the  trough,  which  fell 
in  the  form  of  rain  only  to  be  driven 
at  an  angle  across  the  setting,  simu- 
lating a  powerful  gale.  And  at  the 
propitious  moment  another  stage 
hand  set  off  a  flashlight,  giving  the 
desired  flash-of-lightning  effect  on 
the  film. 

All  of  which  bespeaks  well  of  the 
skill  of  the  artisans  of  the  screen. 
Most  of  their  work  is  done  in  wood 
and  canvas,  although  occasionally 
they  resort  to  metal,  as  witness  the 
submarine  already  mentioned.  Papier 
mache,  plaster  of  Paris,  compressed 
fiber  and  clay  are  also  used  in  pro- 
fusion, especially  in  the  making  of 
statues,  ornate  panels,  and  other 
work  of  a  similar  nature,  forming 
part  of  elaborate  sets. 

The  equipment  of  most  motion 
picture  studios  is  usually  such  as 


would  do  justice  to  a  thriving  wood- 
working shop  and  machine  shop 
combined.  A  typical  comedy-pro- 
ducing studio  in  southern  California, 
for  instance,  has  over  $2,000  worth 
of  woodworking  equipment  in  its 
carpenter  shop,  while  the  stock  of 
lumber  constantly  on  hand  and 
other  items  are  said  to  bring  the 
total  up  to  $4,000.  The  concern  em- 
ploys regularly  over  seventy-five 
carpenters. 

BUILDING  INTERIORS  TO  FIT  THE  STORY 

The  interior  settings  of  a  film 
play  require  the  closest  attention  on 
the  part  of  the  producers.  For  here 
again  the  constant  demand  for  ac- 
curacy and  realism  is  paramount. 
The  smallest  details  must  be 
watched.  If  the  director  calls  for  a 
tenement  house  scene,  the  stage  car- 
penters must  build  him  a  dilapi- 
dated hall  and  stairs,  and  small, 
squalid  rooms.  The  scene  must  ap- 
pear much  the  worse  from  wear  and 
old  age — the  steps  must  look  worn; 
the  walls  must  be  marred,  with  here 
and  there  a  hole  in  the  plaster ;  and 
there  must  be  dirt  a-plenty.  Again, 
if  the  director  calls  for  the  home  of 
a  rich  man,  it  is  necessary  that  he 
state  what  kind  of  rich  man  the 
film  author  had  in  mind.  Is  he  a 
wealthy  man  from  a  family  of  long 


BRAINS   AND   SKILL  AT   WORK  IN  THE   MOTION  PICTURE   STUDIO 
At  the  left:     The  technical  director  of  the  Vitagraph  studio  supervising  the  arrangement 
of  the  furnishings  in  an  elaborate  set.     At  the  right:     Film  artisans  at  work,  making  the 
various  objects  required  in  Vitagraph  pictures. 


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406 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


standing,  or  i«  he  a  nouveau  richef 
If  he  belong  to  the  former  class, 
the  furnishings  are  to  be  of  a  quiet, 
harmonious  design,  with  the  paint- 
ings and  other  ornamentation  typi- 
fying good  taste ;  while  if  he  belong 
to  the  latter,  the  furnishings  must 
be  of  a  garish  sort.  For  it  is  in 
this  manner  that  the  motion  picture 
producer  endeavors  to  amplify  the 
type  of  man  whose  home  is  repre- 
sented. And  motion  picture  tradi- 
tions have  it  that  a  man  with  newly- 
acquired  wealth  must  have  garish 
tastes,  and  that  a  tenement  house 
must  always  be  old,  dirty,  and  much 
the  worse  from  excessive  wear.  In 
other  words,  exaggeration  Is  prac- 
ticed in  order  to  leave  little  to  the 
Imagination  of  the  audience. 

Obviously,  it  would  not  do  to 
leave  the  selection  of  furnishings 
nnd  their  proper  arrangement  to 
stage  hands  and  carpenters,  and  ac- 
cordingly the  demand  for  accuracy 
and  realism  has  brought  into  exist- 
ence a  new  type  of  executive  In  the 
film  industry — the  technical  director, 
or  art  director  as  he  is  sometimes 
called.  To  him  falls  the  task  of 
reading  through  the  synopsis  or 
scenario  of  a  film  story,  followed  by 
the  supervision  of  the  erection  of 
sets.  He  is  responsible  for  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  furnishings,  even 
down  to  the  smallest  details,  as  well 
as  for  the  costuming  of  the  players. 
However,  he  Is  not  responsible  for 
the  action  part  of  a  scene ;  that  task 
remains,  as  ever,  the  work  of  the 
director. 

The  technical  director  must  be  a 
veritable  human  encyclopaedia — a 
man  of  remarkably  broad  knowledge 
and  experience.  He  must  be  well 
read ;  and  what  he  docs  not  know 
he  must  be  able  to  "dig  up"  at  short 
notice.  Here  is  how  his  knowledge 
and  experience  are  applied : 

If  a  scene  is  laid  in  a  certain 
country  and  the  time  is  of  a  different 
century,  he  must  know  what  gar- 
ments the  players  are  to  wear,  the 
accouterments  of  the  soldiers,  the 
etiquette  of  the  period  and  country, 


the  furnishings  of  the  interiors,  the 
head-dress  of  the  women,  and  u 
thousand  and  one  other  details. 

Perhaps  actual  incidents  are  most 
convincing  in  illustrating  how  the 
directors  strive  for  accuracy,  and 
how  the  absence  of  technical  direc- 
tion may  be  fatal  to  an  otherwise 
perfect  production.  The  story  is  told 
of  how  Irvln  Cobb,  the  noted  Ameri- 
can writer,  was  visiting  a  prominent 
Los  Angeles  studio  while  a  director 
was  rehearsing  a  scene  of  a  war 
play  in  which  a  regiment  of  Ger- 
man soldiers  were  marching  through 
a  Belgian  village.  To  add  what  he 
considered  a  touch  of  comfort 
nnd  naturalness  to  the  scene,  the 
director  had  the  men  leave  their 
coats  unbuttoned.  Mr.  Cobb,  then 
only  recently  returned  from  the  war 
zone,  was  horrified  at  this  gross  mis- 
representation of  facts.  lie  did  not 
hesitate  to  tell  the  director  that  at 
no  time  do  the  Germans  have  their 
coats  unbuttoned  while  actually  on 
the  march  or  on  duty.  TJie  director 
was  grateful  for  the  tip,  for  he 
realized  the  humiliation  that  might 
have  been  his  if  the  otherwise  per- 
fect scene  were  held  up  to  ridicule 
by  the  better-informed  of  the  mil- 
lions who  would  ultimately  view  the 
picture.  At  the  same  time  the  au- 
thor also  commented  on  the  wearing 
of  the  Iron  Cross  decoration,  which 
the  director  had  Insisted  the  men 
should  w  ?ar  conspicuously,  whereas 
it  is  actually  tucked  away  with  only 
its  ribbon  showing.  Can  there  be 
any  doubt  of  the  necessity  of  a  tech- 
nical director? 

To  return  to  Interior  settings : 
These  represent  one  of  the  big  Items 
of  expense  In  the  production  of  a 
film.  One  reason  Is  that  the  average 
set  can  be  used  In  one  production 
only,  after  which  It  must  be  dis- 
mantled. In  the  earlier  days  the 
audience  might  not  have  commented 
on  seeing  the  same  pieces  of  furni- 
ture used  several  times.  But  to-day 
the  oudlence  Is  more  observing  and 
will  soon  detect  any  attempt  to  use 
the  same  lamp,  settee,  or  other  fur- 


408 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


nishings  repeatedly.  Conspicuous 
repetition  has  got  to  be  avoided  by 
the  producers.  And  as  in  the  in- 
stance of  the  garments  worn  by  the 
players,  the  furniture  must  be  in 
keeping  with  the  last  word  in  in- 
terior furnishings.  So  every  studio 
maintains  a  large  room  or  several 
rooms  in  which  an  almost  endless 
variety  of  furnishings  is  stored. 

The  walls  of  an  interior  set  are 
generally  built  of  compressed  paper 
or  light  board,  backed  up  with 
framework  and  props,  to  facilitate 
the  work  of  erection  and  destruc- 
tion. Tremendous  quantities  of  the 
necessary  materials  are  employed  in 
the  course  of  a  year,  as  witness 
some  50,000  feet  or  more  of  com- 
pressed paper  board  used  by  a  lead- 
ing comedy  producer,  together  with 
over  500,000  feet  of  lumber.  The 
same  concern  spends  over  $1,800  for 
some  15,000  rolls  of  wall  paper  each 
year,  with  which  to  cover  the  walls 
of  its  sets. 

The  cost  of  even  the  most  modest 
set  runs  up  into  the  hundreds  of 
dollars,  for  it  must  be  remembered 
that  practically  every  set  must  be 
built  and  decorated  to  order,  and 
filled  with  the  necessary  furniture, 
which  may  not  be  used  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  Elaborate  sets  run 
up  into  the  thousands  of  dollars. 
A  good  restaurant  or  cabaret  scene 
may  cost  from  $2,000  to  $5,000,  de- 
pending upon  its  elaborateness  and 
size.  A  setting  calling  for  intricate 
electric  lighting  effects  sometimes 
exceeds  the  $5,000  mark,  for  in- 
stance, the  witches'  scene  in  the  re- 
cent production  of  "Macbeth,"  star- 
ring Sir  Herbert  Beerbohm  Tree, 
which  is  said  to  have  cost  over 
$10,000  because  of  the  elaborate  ap- 
paratus for  producing  the  weird  fire 
effects. 

IN     THE     LAND     OF     TWO-DIMENSIONED 
STRUCTURES 

The  film  artisan  finds  his  biggest 
field  of  endeavor  in  the  outdoor  sets, 
for  under  the  open  skies  his  under- 
takings are  not  hindered  by  space 
limitations  and  can  therefore  as- 


sume the  most  gigantic  proportions. 
Here  again,  the  striving  for  realism 
is  the  first  consideration;  here  the 
technical  director  must  exercise  his 
knowledge  of  architectural  design 
covering  every  period  in  history  and 
every  part  of  the  world. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  set  that  has 
ever  been  constructed  up  until  the 
time  of  writing  was  one  represent- 
ing the  ancient  city  of  Babylon,  em- 
ployed in  the  gigantic  production 
"Intolerance."  On  the  front  of  this 
huge  setting— the  side  that  faced 
the  camera — there  rose  high  walls 
painted  to  simulate  stone,  100  feet 
in  height  and  adorned  with  reliefs 
of  strange  winged  creatures  and  ele- 
phants. The  towers  of  the  set  stood 
135  feet  high,  and  the  various  struc- 
tures covered  a  ten-acre  tract  of 
land  in  Hollywood,  Cal.,  just  outside 
of  Los  Angeles.  For  more  than  six 
months  the  carpenters,  masons,  con- 
crete workers  and  painters  were 
busied  with  the  set,  and  the  cost  of 
the  work  is  reported  to  have  been 
in  excess  of  $50,000. 

But  slightly  less  pretentious  was 
the  set  erected  at  an  approximate 
cost  of  $35,000,  representing  the  pal- 
ace, house  of  parliament,  prison, 
royal  court,  and  adjacent  buildings 
in  a  mythical  country  featured  in 
the  production  "Civilization."  The 
first  spadeful  of  earth  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  erection  of  the  set  was 
turned  in  May,  1915.  The  completed 
set  was  ready  for  use  in  November 
of  the  same  year.  Into  its  construc- 
tion went  thirty  carloads,  or  ap- 
proximately 600,000  feet,  of  lumber. 
Glass  valued  at  a  total  of  $4,000  was 
necessary  for  the  several  hundred 
windows,  while  tons  upon  tons  of 
cement  and  plaster  were  used  as  the 
other  principal  materials.  For  the 
steps  of  the  largest  building  alone 
ten  tons  of  cement  was  used.  The 
sidewalks,  with  their  curbings,  meas- 
ured some  1,200  feet,  and  twenty 
men  were  employed  for  three  months 
laying  them  out  and  arranging  the 
parkings  between  them.  Trees, 
shrubbery  and  lamps  were  among 


MOTION    PICTURES    IN    THE    MAKING 


409 


the  ornaments  placed  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  set.  Covering  an 
area  of  over  six  and  one  half  acres, 
the  set  has  stood  atop  one  of  the 
hills  in  southern  California,  endur- 
ing the  elements  successfully  as 
though  it  were  intended  as  a  perma- 
nent structure. 

It  is  principally  in  portraying  for- 
eign scenes  that  the  film  artisans 
are  called  upon  to  build  elaborate 
sets.  Years  ago,  before  the  industry 
had  reached  its  present  high  stand- 
ard, companies  traveled  abroad  in 
order  to  produce  plays  at  the  actual 
locations  called  for  by  the  scenario. 
To-day,  in  marked  contrast,  the  pro- 
ducers find  it  easier  to  bring  the 
foreign  or  distant  spots  to  the  stu- 
dio, literally  speaking.  Accuracy 
enables  them  to  convince  the  au- 
dience that  the  scenes  have  been 
laid  in  the  country  called  for  by  the 
story.  All  parts  of  the  world  have 
been  brought  to  the  foothills  of  Cali- 
fornia, the  shores  of  Florida,  and 
the  edge  of  the  Palisades  of  New 


FIRST  MOVING  PICTURE  STUDIO  IN  THE 

U.  S,,  BUILT  IN  1905 
This   structure   was   mounted   on   pivots   so 
that   it   could   constantly   be   turned    to  keep 
the  sunlight  streaming  in   through  its  crude 
skylight. 


Jersey,  where  the  producers  have 
better  laboratory  facilities,  under- 
stand the  light  conditions,  can  secure 
experienced  players — and  save  time. 
Typical  instances  of  foreign  sets 
have  been  the  barracks  of  Delhi, 
India,  and  a  street  in  a  village  of  a 


mythical  country,  recently  erected 
and  used  by  a  Western  producer. 
The  former  consisted  of  seven  indi- 
vidual structures  and  entailed  an 
expenditure  of  $3,000 ;  the  latter 
represented  a  street  lined  with 
houses  of  solid  construction.  The 
houses  were  made  of  plaster-covered 
timbers,  while  the  stone  walls  and 
trees  were  handled  with  great  care 
to  obtain  correctness  of  detail.  The 
entire  set  required  about  six  weeks 
to  build  and  involved  an  outlay  of 
perhaps  $5,000. 

There  is  practically  no  end  to  the 
elaborate  outdoor  sets  erected  by 
motion  picture  producers.  In  the 
production  of  "Ramona"  it  was  said 
that  over  1,800  sets  were  especially 
built  for  the  play,  and  that  the  pic- 
turesque Spanish  monastery  for  one 
of  the  sets  cost  some  $10,000. 

A  commendable  piece  of  work  was 
the  set  representing  the  temple  of 
an  Aztec  monarch  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  which  was  used  in  the  pro- 
duction "The  Captive  God."  Its 
framework  was  built  of  timbers,  but 
the  body  was  of  plaster  plaques. 
About  7,000  of  these  plaques  were 
required ;  and  the  total  cost  of  the 
set  is  said  to  have  been  $3,000. 

A  set  representing  a  border  town 
on  the  line  separating  Mexico  from 
the  United  States,  for  use  in  a  typi- 
cal Western  drama,  was  recently 
constructed  at  a  cost  of  $1,500.  It 
consisted  of  fifteen  buildings,  each 
entirely  of  frame  construction.  While 
the  cost  of  the  village  was  not  great, 
at  the  time  it  was  regarded  by  film 
men  as  one  of  the  most  realistic  sets 
ever  built  for  the  screen. 

Thousands  of  other  sets  might  be 
described,  for  they  come  and  go 
without  end.  But  enough  instances 
have  been  cited  to  prove  that  the 
production  of  motion  pictures  is  a 
costly  enterprise  if  realism  is  to  be 
secured.  Also,  there  is  to  be  found 
no  more  skilled  and  ingenious  arti- 
san than  the  artisan  of  the  screen, 
whose  work,  generally  unappre- 
ciated, plays  so  conspicuous  a  part 
in  the  remarkable  productions  of 
our  day. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  REALM  OF  THE  AIR 

By  C.  F.  TALMAN 


THE  gaseous  envelope  of  the 
earth  which  we  call  the 
atmosphere  is  interesting  not 
only  as  the  environment  of  life,  in 
all  its  forms,  but  also  as  the  seat 
of  various  remarkable  physical 
phenomena.  Considered  especially 
with  reference  to  their  biological, 
and  above  all  their  human,  relations, 
the  activities  of  the  atmosphere 
are  known  collectively  as  weather; 
but  the  study  of  the  atmos- 
phere, the  science  we  call  Mete- 
orology, is  broader  than  the 
study  of  weather.  Hence,  if  weather 
is  important,  and  everybody  knows 
that  it  is  immensely  so,  in  terms  of 
health,  comfort  and  dollars,  meteor- 
ology is  still  more  important.  This 
science  ought  to  be,  but  is  not  yet, 
represented  by  professorships  in 
every  university  in  the  land. 

EXTENT    AND    COMPOSITION    OF    THE 
ATMOSPHERE 

The  lower  part  of  the  atmosphere 
is  the  densest  because  it  is  com- 
pressed by  the  weight  of  the  air 
above  it.  Thus  it  happens  that,  al- 
though the  total  depth  of  the  at- 
mosphere is  probably  at  least  300 
miles,  one-half  of  its  mass.,  i.e.,  one- 
half  of  the  quantity  of  matter  in  it, 
lies  below  an  altitude  of  about  three 
and  one-half  miles  above  sea-level, 
while  about  seven-eighths  lies  below 
the  ten-mile  level.  Above  about  five 
miles  the  atmosphere  is  too  rare  (or 
rather  the  oxygen  in  it  is  too  rare) 
to  support  life.  The  highest  ice- 
clouds  seldom  occur  higher  than 
ten  miles.  Storms  hardly  ever  reach 


this  height.  In  short,  the  phenomena 
of  life  and  the  phenomena  of  weath- 
er are  confined  to  a  layer  of  air  so 
shallow,  in  proportion  to  the  dimen- 
sions of  our  globe,  that  on  the  sur- 
face of  an  orange  it  would  be  rep- 
resented by  a  sheet  of  paper  thin- 
ner than  the  average  book-paper. 

Dry  air  is  a  mixture  (not  a  chemi- 
cal compound)  of  several  gases,  viz., 
about  78  per  cent  nitrogen,  21  per 
cent  oxygen,  1  per  cent  argon,  and 
0.03  per  cent  carbon  dioxide,  by  vol- 
ume, besides  minute  quantities  of 
hydrogen,  neon,  krypton,  xenon, 
helium  and  possibly  other  sub- 
stances. At  levels  habitable  by  man 
the  air  always  contains  invisible 
water  vapor  (from  a  small  trace  to 
about  5  per  cent),  and  usually  small 
and  variable  amounts  of  ozone,  am- 
monia, nitric  acid,  and  other  gases, 
which,  on  account  of  their  irregular 
occurrence,  are  not  classed  among 
the  normal  constituents  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Lastly,  the  lower  air  always 
contains  solid  impurities,  in  endless 
variety,  generically  known  as  dn*t. 

THE    UPPER   AIR 

Such  is  the  composition  of  the 
air  for  a  few  miles  above  the  earth, 
but  the  proportions  of  its  constitu- 
ents do  not  remain  the  same  at 
higher  levels,  since  the  lighter  gases 
extend  farther  upward  than  the 
heavier.  Probably  there  is  no  water 
vapor  above  about  12  miles;  no  oxy- 
gen above  about  00  miles,  and  no 
nitrogen  above  about  70  miles.  From 
a  level  of  about  50  miles  upward  the 
atmosphere,  instead  of  being  "air," 


Copyright  by   Mtinn   &   Co.,   Inc. 


412 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


is  mostly  hydrogen — the  lightest 
known  gas.  Moreover,  at  the  50- 
mile  level  the  atmosphere  is  less 
than  1/75,000  as  dense  as  at  sea- 
level;  i.  e.,  it  is  more  than  seventy- 
five  times  as  attenuated  as  the  best 
"vacuum"  obtainable  with  an  ordi- 
nary mechanical  air  pump.  At  300 
miles  above  the  earth  it  is  computed 
to  be  about  one-two-millionth  as 
dense  as  at  sea-level.  Ozone,  which 
occurs  transiently  and  in  small 
amounts  in  the  lower  atmosphere,  is 
believed  to  be  permanently  present 
and  abundant  at  high  levels,  where 
it  is  formed  from  oxygen,  probably 
under  the  influence  of  ultra-violet 


The  past  twenty  years  have  wit- 
nessed a  remarkable  development  of 
upper-air  research,  or  aerology.  Up 
to  a  height  of  about  four  miles  the 
atmosphere  has  been  extensively  ex- 
plored by  means  of  self-registering 
meteorological  instruments  (mete- 
orographs) attached  to  kites — not  of 
the  schoolboy  pattern,  but  box  or 
cellular  kites,  the  "string"  of  which 
consists  of  several  miles  of  steel 
wire,  wound  around  the  drum  of  a 
power-driven  winch.  Captive  bal- 
loons have  also  been  utilized  to  some 
extent.  For  attaining  great  alti- 
tudes, however,  free  balloons  must 
be  used.  The  so-called  sounding- 


SOUNDING  THE   UPPER  AIR 

Left:  Launching  a  pair  of  sounding  balloons,  with  self -registering  meteorological  instru- 
ments attached.  Upper  right:  Balloon  meteorograph  and  the  protective  cage  in  which  it  is 
sent  aloft.  Lower  right:  Weather  Bureau  party  making  upper  air  observations. 


light  from  the  sun  and  of  auroral 
discharges.  The  existence  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  a  gas  unknown  to  chem- 
ists and  lighter  than  hydrogen  has 
been  maintained  in  some  quarters 
(especially  by  Dr.  Alfred  Wegener), 
and  it  has  been  named  "geocoroni- 
um,"  or  "zodiacon."  If  present  at  all, 
it  is  presumably  the  chief  constituent 
of  the  atmosphere  in  the  upper  levels. 


oalloon,  which  carries  a  meteoro- 
graph, bursts  far  above  the  earth, 
and  the  attached  instruments  are 
carried  gently  down  by  a  parachute, 
or  an  auxiliary  balloon.  Sounding- 
balloons  rise  to  various  heights  up 
to  20  miles.  Small  balloons  sent  up 
without  a  meteorograph  attached, 
merely  for  the  sake  of  observing  the 
drift  of  the  air  at  various  levels,  are 


THE    REALM    OF    THE    AIR 


41H 


called  pilot-Walloons.  An  altitude  of 
more  than  twenty-four  miles  has 
thus  been  attained. 

Since  the  year  1902  it  has  been 
known  that  the  atmosphere  is  div- 
ided into  at  least  two  layers,  or 
shells,  having  quite  different  char- 
acteristics. If  from  some  place  in 
middle  latitudes  we  could  travel  in 
a  balloon  as  far  upward  as  we 
pleased,  carrying  a  thermometer 
with  us,  we  should  find  the  air  rap- 
idly growing  colder,  at  a  more  or 
less  uniform  rate,  as  we  ascended 
until  we  reached  an  altitude  of  about 
seven  miles.  Then  the  fall  in  tem- 
perature would  abruptly  cease,  and 
might  even  be  succeeded  by  a  slight- 
ly rising  temperature  for  a  certain 
distance  upward.  This  would  indi- 
cate that  we  had  passed  out  of  the 
troposphere,  as  the  lower  stratum  of 
the  atmosphere  is  now  called,  and 
entered  the  stratosphere,  or  isother- 
mal layer,  in  which  there  are  no 
very  decided  or  regular  changes  of 
temperature  with  altitude.  The 
boundary  between  the  two  layers 
lies  much  higher  in  equatorial  re- 
gions, and  the  temperatures  at  the 
summit  of  the  troposphere  in  such 
regions  are  lower  than  anywhere 


KITE    AND    BALLOON   HOUSE    AT    AN 
AEROLOGICAL   OBSERVATORY 

else  in  the  atmosphere.  A  sounding- 
balloon  over  Batavia,  Java,  has  re- 
corded 133  degrees  below  zero,  Fahr., 
at  an  altitude  of  about  ten  miles. 
Besides  differing  from  the  tropo- 


sphere in  its  lack  of  regular  temper- 
ature contrasts  in  a  vertical  direc- 
tion, the  stratosphere  has  an  inde- 
pendent circulation ;  concerning 
which,  however,  not  much  is  yet  pos- 
itively known. 

THE    PBESSUEE    OF     THE    ATMOSPHERE 

The  atmosphere  presses  down  up- 
on the  earth  with  a  weight  which, 
at  sea-level,  amounts,  on  an  average, 
to  14.7  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
This  pressure  is,  at  any  point,  ex- 
erted equally  in  all  directions;  it 
acts,  for  example,  on  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  human  body,  and  this 
means  that  a  man  of  average  size 
lives  under  a  burden  of  some  seven- 
teen tons  of  air.  He  is  not  incom- 
moded because  the  pressure  from 
without  is  balanced  by  that  of  the 
air  inside  his  body.  The  pressure 
of  the  air  decreases  upward  at  the 
same  rate  as  its  density ;  at  an  alti- 
tude of  three  and  one-half  miles  it 
is  about  half  as  great  as  at  sea-level. 
Thus  the  atmospheric  pressure  on 
mountains  and  plateaus  is  considera- 
bly less  than  in  lowlands.  At  no 
place  is  the  pressure  invariable,  nor 
is  there  a  constant  relation  between 
pressure  and  altitude;  but,  knowing 
approximately  the  average  atmos- 
pheric pressure  over  the  earth's  sur- 
face, and  knowing  also  the  area  of 
the  latter,  we  can  compute  in  round 
numbers  the  total  weight  of  the  at- 
mosphere— about  5,000,000,000,000,- 
000  (5  quadrillion,  according  to 
American  notation;  5,000  billion,  ac- 
cording to  British  notation)  tons. 
This  is  about  1/1,200,000  of  the  en- 
tire weight  of  the  terrestrial  globe. 

The  pressure  of  the  air  is  meas- 
ured by  means  of  an  instrument 
called  the  barometer,  and  hence  is 
often  referred  to  as  "barometric" 
pressure.  In  this  instrument  the 
weight  of  the  air  is  balanced  against 
a  column  of  mercury,  and  the  height 
of  the  latter,  generally  expressed  in 
inches  or  millimeters,  is  taken  as 
the  measure  of  the  former.  Hence, 
when  we  say  that  the  average  baro- 
metric pressure  at  sea-level  is  29.92 
"inches,"  we  are  really  expressing 


414 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


in  a  roundabout  way  the  weight  of 
the  air  at  that  level. 

HOW  THE  ATMOSPHERE  IS  HEATED 

Our  life  and  our  weather  are  both 
maintained  by  a  tiny  fraction — less 
than  half  a  millionth — of  the  heat 
given  off  by  the  great  luminary 
around  which  the  earth  revolves  in 
space.  At  any  given  moment  half 
the  surface  of  the  globe  basks  in 
the  sunshine  while  the  other  half  is 
in  shadow.  Besides  rotating  on  its 


THE  MARCH  OF  THE  SEASONS 
8,  the  sun  ;  N,  north  pole  of  the  earth  ; 
B,  winter  in  N.  hemisphere  and  summer 
in  S.  hemisphere ;  D,  summer  in  N. 
hemisphere,  winter  in  S.  hemisphere  ;  A, 
G,  equinoxes. 

axis  once  a  day,  the  earth  revolves 
around  the  sun  once  a  year,  and  its 
axis,  which  always  remains  parallel 
to  itself,  is  inclined  to  the  plane  of 
its  orbit.  These  facts  (illustrated  in 
the  accompanying  diagram)  explain 
the  alternation  of  day  and  night, 
the  march  of  the  seasons,  and  the 
opposition  of  the  latter  in  the  two 
hemispheres.  The  northern  half  of 
the  globe  receives  more  than  its 
share  of  solar  heat  at  the  season 
when  the  southern  half  is  receiving 
less,  and  vice  versa;  hence  the  north- 
ern summer  coincides  with  the 
southern  winter,  and  the  northern 
winter  with  the  southern  summer. 
The  amount  of  heat  received  at  a 
particular  place,  at  a  given  time,  de- 
pends chiefly  upon  the  angle  at 
which  the  sun's  rays  reach  the 
ground,  and  this  is  continually 
changing.  The  interposition  of 
clouds,  variations  in  surface  top- 
ography, different  heat-absorbing 
properties  of  water  and  land,  and  a 


number  of  other  complications  ac- 
centuate still  further  the  contrasts 
in  temperature  between  different 
parts  of  the  earth's  surface,  and 
these  contrasts  give  rise  to  the 
winds. 

Some  of  the  heat  that  comes  to  us 
from  the  sun  is  absorbed  in  its  pas- 
sage through  the  atmosphere,  but 
the  greater  part  of  it  penetrates  to 
the  earth,  where  it  is  absorbed,  and 
then  given  out  to  the  lower  strata 
of  air.  Thus  our  atmosphere  is 
heated  chiefly  from  below.  The  air 
that  is  heated  at  the  earth's  surface 
expands  in  all  directions,  but  es- 
pecially upward,  where  it  encounters 
the  least  resistance.  Moreover,  air 
that  has  risen  and  spread  out  later- 
ally increases  the  pressure  on  the 
air  over  which  it  has  flowed,  and 
this  lower  air  pushes  in  toward  the 
over-heated  area.  The  inflowing  cool- 
er air  helps  to  drive  the  heated 
air  upward.  In  other  words,  the 
heated  air  does  not  rise  merely  on 
account  of  its  expansion,  but  because 
it  is  pushed  up  by  the  air  around  it. 
Philosophically  speaking,  our  atmos- 
phere is  kept  in  motion  by  solar 
energy,  just  as  a  steam-engine  is 
kept  in  motion  by  the  energy  of  fuel. 

Since  the  atmosphere  is  relatively 
very  shallow,  the  distances  the  air 
rises  and  falls  under  the  effects  of 
temperature  are  extremely  small 
compared  with  the  distances  it  is, 
carried  over  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
It  is  chiefly  the  horizontal  movement 
of  the  air  that  we  think  of  as 
"wind,"  but  the  up-and-down  move- 
ment is  an  essential  part  of  the  pro- 
cess and  has  several  important  ef- 
fects. 

THE   GENERAL    WIND   OF   THE   GLOBE 

In  the  equatorial  regions  the  sur- 
race  air  is  heated  more  than  else- 
where, and  rises  and  overflows,  at 
high  levels,  toward  the  poles;  while 
the  relatively  cold  air  of  high  lati- 
tudes flows  equatorward,  near  the 
earth's  surface,  to  replace  it.  A 
simple  circulation  between  the  equa- 
tor and  the  poles  could,  however, 
only  occur  if  the  earth  did  not  ro- 


THE    REALM    OF    THE    AIR 


415 


tate  on  its  axis.  The  "deflective 
force"  of  the  earth's  rotation  causes 
a  particle  of  air  moving  in  any  di- 
rection over  the  earth's  surface  to 
deviate — to  the  right  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  and  to  the  left  in  the 
southern  (a  phenomenon  that  is  not 
limited  to  air  movements,  but  ap- 
plies in  general  to  bodies  moving 
freely  over  the  earth).  At  about 
latitude  30  degrees  the  winds  com- 
ing from  the  equator  have  been  so 
much  deflected  that  they  move  al- 
most eastwardly.  The  result  is  a 
great  whirl  around  the  pole,  occupy- 
ing most  of  the  temperate  zone  in 
each  hemisphere,  with  prevailing 
winds  from  the  western  quadrant  at 
all  levels.  The  centrifugal  force  of 
this  whirl  causes  the  air  to  bank  up 
at  about  latitude  30  degrees,  pro- 
ducing a  belt  of  high  pressure  in 
that  region,  which  is  sometimes 
known  as  the  horse  latitudes. 

Between  this  belt  and  the  equator 
there  is  a  regular  circulation  of  air 
equatorward  below  (the  trade 
winds')  and  poleward  above  (the 
anti-trades}  ;  and  both  these  systems 
of  winds  are  given  an  oblique  direc- 
tion by  the  earth's  rotation.  Near 
the  equator,  between  the  two  trade- 
wind  systems,  is  a  region  of  calms 
and  variable  winds,  with  abundant 
clouds  and  rain,  known  as  the  dol- 
drums. Trades  and  doldrums  shift 
alternately  north  and  south  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  following  the 
sun,  and  give  to  regions  wrhich  come 
under  their  control,  successive  dry 
and  rainy  seasons.  Within  the  polar 
circles  the  low  temperatures  increase 
the  density  of  the  air,  which  flows 
away  from  the  poles  near  the  earth's 
surface;  an  effect  that  appears  to 
be  strengthened  by  the  drainage  of 
air  down  the  glacier  slopes  of  the 
two  polar  continents  (Greenland  and 
Antarctica). 

The  accompanying  table  shows 
in  a  general  way  the  arrangement  of 
the  principal  wind-belts  of  the  earth. 
This  represents  prevailing  condi- 
tions, which  are,  however,  subject 
to  many  interruptions.  In  middle 


latitudes,  for  example,  while  the  pre- 
vailing drift  of  the  air  is  eastwardly, 
the  actual  wind  at  any  place  and 
time  is  usually  determined  by  the 
positions  of  cyclones  and  anticy- 
clones (of  which  we  shall  say  more 


NORTH    TOLE 


Arctic  calms  and  outflow- 
ing winds,  deflected  west- 
wardly  (with  poleward 
winds  overhead). 


Westerly    to    southwesterly 
winds  of  middle  latitudes. 


Horse   latitudes    ("calms  of 
Cancer"). 


Northeast  trade  winds 
(with  southwest  anti- 
trades overhead). 


Doldrums.  or  equatorial 
calms  (with  east  winds 
overhead). 


Southeast  trade  winds 
(with  northwest  anti- 
trades overhead). 


Horse  latitudes    ("calms  of 
Capricorn"). 


Westerly  to  northwesterly 
winds  of  middle  lati- 
tudes (including  the 
"brave  west  winds"  of 
southern  oceans). 


Antarctic  calms  and  out- 
flowing winds,  deflected 
westwardly  (with  pole- 
ward winds  overhead). 


SOUTH    POLE 


presently).  Any  of  these  general 
wind-systems  may  be  disturbed  by 
the  seasonal  winds  known  as  mon- 
soons, which  blow  outward  from  a 
continent  to  the  ocean  in  winter  and 
in  the  reverse  direction  in  summer. 


416 


OUR   COUNTRY    AND    ITS   RESOURCES 


Interruptions  on  a  smaller  scale 
arise  from  a  day-and-night  alterna- 
tion of  winds  to  and  from  bodies 
of  water  (land  and  sea  breezes;  land 
and  lake  breezes),  and  a  similar 
daily  reversal  of  the  wind  direction 
in  mountainous  regions  (mountain 
and  valley  breezes). 

CYCLONES    AND    ANTICYCLONES 

Cyclones  and  anticyclones  are 
areas  of  low  and  high  barometric 
pressure,  respectively,  exhibiting  cer- 
tain typical  conditions  of  wind  and 
weather.  In  this  country  the  term 
"cyclone"  is  persistently  misapplied 


by  the  hands  of  a  clock)  around  the 
center;  not  in  circles,  but  more  or 
less  spirally  inward.  In  the  south- 
ern hemisphere  their  direction  is  re- 
versed. The  anticyclone  has  a  cir- 
culation opposite  to  that  of  the  cy- 
clone (clockwise  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  and  counterclockwise  in 
the  southern). 

There  are  certain  regions  of  the 
globe  in  which  cyclones  or  anticy- 
clones of  large  extent  (known  as 
"centers  of  action")  tend  to  persist 
through  a  season  or  the  whole  year, 
though  with  fluctuations  in  size  and 
activity.  Most  cyclones  and  anti- 


by  the  newspapers  and  the  public 
to  a  very  small  intensely  violent 
storm  of  the  "spout"  variety,  prop- 
erly known  as  the  tornado.  The 
true  cyclone  covers  an  area  thou- 
sands of  times  as  great  as  that  cov- 
ered by  a  tornado,  and  its  winds 
may  be  either  stormy  or  gentle.  In 
the  northern  hemisphere  the  winds 
of  a  cyclone  blow  "counterclockwise" 
(opposite  to  the  direction  followed 


cyclones,  however,  travel  over  the 
earth,  and  those  of  the  temperate 
zone  (the  "lows"  and  "highs"  of  the 
weather  map)  move  in  a  general 
west-to-east  direction.  In  the  United 
States  their  speed  averages  about 
600  miles  a  day.  (This  refers  to 
the  translation  of  the  whirl  as  a 
whole,  and  not  to  the  force  of  its 
winds.)  In  general,  cyclones  are  at- 
tended by  clouds  and  rain  or  snow; 


THE    REALM    OF   THE    AIR 


41? 


A  FREAK  OF  THE  TORNADO 


anticyclones  by  fair  weather.  The 
temperature  commonly  rises  with  the 
approach  of  a  cyclone,  and  falls  in 
its  rear.  It  is  the  constant  passage 
of  cyclones  and  anticyclones  over 
the  country  that  gives  us  our  change- 
able weather. 

On  the  weather  map  these  areas 
are  depicted  by  drawing  lines,  called 
isobars,  connecting  places  having  the 
same  barometric  pressure.  Wherever 
the  isobars  are  crowded  the  winds 
the  strong;  where  they  are  widely 
spaced  the  winds  are  gentle. 

The  tropical  cyclone  (hurricane 
of  the  West  Indies,  typhoon  of  the 
China  Sea,  baguio  of  the  Philippines) 
is  a  relatively  violent  whirl,  which 
originates  in  the  stagnant  air  of  the 
doldrums,  and  usually  moves  in  an 
oblique  and  curved  path  toward 
higher  latitudes,  frequently  passing 
into  the  temperate  zone,  where  it 
increases  in  size  and  decreases  in 
strength.  While  middle-latitude  cy- 
clones occur  throughout  the  year, 
tropical  cyclones  are  almost  lim- 
ited to  particular  seasons  (those  of 
the  West  Indies  are  commonest  from 
July  to  October),  and  they  are  also 
confined  to  rather  small  regions  of 
the  globe.  Storms  of  this  type  cause 
frightful  devastation  in  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  occasionally  in  the  southeastern 


United  States  (as  at  Galveston,  Sep- 
tember 8,  1900,  when  6,000  lives  and 
$30,000,000  in  property  were  destroy- 
ed, chiefly  by  the  great  waves  gen- 
erated by  the  storm). 

TORNADOES    AND    THUNDERSTORMS 

The  tornado  is  a  small  vortex  in 
the  atmosphere,  occurring  generally 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  a  cyclone, 
and  rarely  experienced,  in  its  full 
development,  elsewhere  than  in  the 
United  States,  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Its  average  diameter  is 
about  1,000  feet,  and  it  travels  along 
a  path  varying  in  length  from  a  few 
hundred  yards  to  200  or  300  miles. 
The  whirl  as  a  whole  moves  at  a 
speed  averaging  25  miles  an  hour, 
while  the  velocity  of  rotation  proba- 
bly sometimes  amounts  to  500  miles 
an  hour — a  wind-force  far  exceeding 
that  of  any  other  type  of  storm. 
Within  the  narrow  track  of  the 
disturbance  buildings  are  blown  to 
bits,  trees  are  uprooted,  and  human 
beings  only  find  safety  underground ; 
but  close  on  either  side  of  the  track 
little  or  no  damage  is  done.  The 
position  of  the  whirl  is  marked  by 
a  funnel-shaped  cloud.  Waterspouts, 
which  occur  on  the  ocean  and  other 
large  bodies  of  water,  are  similar  in 
character  to  tornadoes,  though  gen- 
erally very  much  less  violent. 

Thunderstorms  occur  chiefly  in 
warm  climates  and  during  the  warm 
season  in  temperate  climates,  but 
they  are  by  no  means  unknown  in 
the  polar  regions.  They  are  char- 
acterized by  rapidly  rising  air  cur- 
rents, which  may  be  either  incidental 


ONE  OF  THE  FEW  AUTHENTIC  PHOTO* 
GRAPHS  OF  A  TORNADO 


418 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


to  the  circulation  of  a  cyclone  or 
due  to  local  overheating  of  the 
ground  under  strong  sunshine.  Cy- 
clonic thunderstorms  sometimes  oc- 
cur along  a  line  several  hundred 
miles  in  length,  extending  radially 
from  the  center  of  a  cyclone,  and 
sweeping  over  the  country  at  a  fair- 
ly uniform  speed.  This  phenomenon 
is  called  a  line-squall. 

The  electrical  features  of  a  thun- 
derstorm are  the  result  and  not  the 
cause  of  the  atmospheric  movements. 
The  process  by  which  the  clouds  be- 
come so  strongly  electrified  as  to 
give  rise  to  disruptive  discharges  be- 
tween cloud  and  earth,  or  cloud  and 
cloud,  is  not  yet  settled  beyond  con- 
troversy, but  has  been  plausibly  as- 
cribed to  the  breaking  up  of  rain- 
drops in  uprushing  air  currents,  and 
the  consequent  separation  of  positive 
from  negative  electricity.  Lightning 
owes  its  luminosity  to  the  heating  of 
the  air  along  the  path  of  the  elec- 
trical discharge.  The  sudden  expan- 
sion of  the  heated  air  produces  the 
sound-wave  we  call  thunder. 

A  flash  of  lightning  sometimes  con- 
sists of  a  single  virtually  instantane- 
ous discharge;  but  in  other  cases 
several  discharges  occur  in  rapid 
succession  along  the  same  path,  giv- 
ing to  the  lightning  a  flickering  ap- 
pearance. The  duration  of  a  mul- 
tiple flash  of  this  character  may 
amount  to  half  a  second  or  more. 
When  such  a  flash  is  photographed 
with  a  camera  swinging  on  a  vertical 
axis,  the  successive  flashes  appear 
side  by  side  on  the  plate.  The  rare 
form  of  discharge  known  as  pearl 
or  beaded  lightning  presents  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  string  of  luminous 
beads.  Still  rarer  is  rocket  light- 
ning, which  shoots  up  into  the  air  at 
the  apparent  speed  of  a  skyrocket. 
Ball  lightning,  which  takes  f he  form 
of  a  globe  of  fire  moving  slowly 
through  the  air  near  the  earth 
(sometimes  indoors)  has  not  yet 
been  satisfactorily  explained.  Heat 
lightning  is  the  reflection  on  the 
clouds  of  ordinary  lightning  too  dis- 
tant to  be  audible. 


Lightning  is  far  more  destructive 
in  the  rural  districts  than  in  cities 
and  towns.  In  this  country  the  aver- 
age annual  property  loss  from  this 
cause  is  about  $8,000,000,  while 
about  1,500  persons  are  affected  an- 
nually by  lightning  stroke,  one-third 
of  this  number  being  killed.  The 
efficacy  of  well-constructed  light- 
ning-rods is  not  doubted  by  compe- 
tent authorities.  Statistics  show 
that  they  reduce  the  fire  hazard 
from  lightning  by  80  to  90  per  cent 
in  the  case  of  houses,  and  by  as  much 
as  99  per  cent  in  the  case  of  barns. 

OTHER    ELECTRICAL    PHENOMENA 

St.  Elmo's  fire  (also  known  under 
a  score  of  other  "names)  is  a  brush 
discharge  from  the  points  of  ter- 
restrial objects,  and  is  most  common 
on  mountains.  It  is  also  seen  on  the 
masts  and  spars  of  vessels.  Brush 
discharges  on  a  vast  scale  are  said 
to  occur  along  the  crest  of  the  Chil- 
ean Andes,  whence  they  are  visible 
hundreds  of  miles  out  at  sea. 

The  aurora  (called  aurora  ^ore- 
alls  in  the  northern  hemisphere  and 
aurora  australis  in  the  southern)  is 
now  most  commonly  attributed  to 
the  passage  of  cathode  rays  through 
the  atmosphere,  under  the  effects  of 
some  kind  of  radiation  or  emission 
from  the  sun.  It  is  especially  com- 
mon and  brilliant  at  times  when  sun- 
spots  are  numerous,  and  is  accom- 
panied by  disturbances  in  the  earth's 
magnetism.  The  aurora  has  been 
carefully  studied  in  high  latitudes 
by  means  of  simultaneous  photo- 
graphs from  two  stations,  whereby 
its  altitude  and  distance  from  the 
place  of  observation  can  be  determ- 
ined. There  appear  to  be  two  prin- 
cipal forms:  viz.,  a  tranquil,  homo- 
geneous arc,  occurring  only  at  great 
altitudes,  and  shifting  beams  and 
"draperies,"  occurring  mainly  at 
lower  levels.  There  is  some  evidence 
that  a  feeble  auroral  glow  commonly 
extends  over  the  whole  nocturnal 
sky,  in  all  latitudes  (earthlight) . 

MISCELLANEOUS  WINDS 

A  wind  blowing  from  a  warm  re- 


THE    REALM    OF    THE    AIR 


419 


gion  toward  a  cyclonic  center  is 
called,  in  southern  Europe,  a  sirocco, 
and  this  term  is  sometimes  applied 
to  similar  winds  elsewhere.  Such 
winds  are  commonly  associated  with 
the  heated  terms  or  "hot  waves"  of 
our  American  summers.  Winds 
blowing  in  winter  from  regions  of 
high  barometric  pressure  and  low 
temperature  bring  us  cold  leaves  and 
sometimes  blizzards  (the  latter  term 
implying  the  presence  of  driving 
snow  in  addition  to  high  wind  and 
low  temperature).  The  northers  of 
Texas  come  under  this  head. 

A  foehn  (pronounced  like  "fern" 
but  without  the  r)  is  a  wind  which 
has  been  robbed  of  much  of  its 
moisture  through  precipitation  (rain- 
fall) on  the  windward  slope  of 
mountains,  and  which  is  further 
dried  and  heated  in  descending  the 
leeward  slope.  (The  heating  is  due 
to  the  "adiabatic"  process,  an  ex- 
planation of  which  will  be  found  in 
physical  and  meteorological  text- 
books.) In  the  western  United 
States  such  a  wind  is  called  a 
chinooJc.  Its  effects  are  most  pro- 
nounced in  winter,  when  it  brings 
about  a  very  sudden  rise  in  temper- 
ature and  causes  snow  to  vanish  as 
if  by  magic,  whence  it  has  been 
nicknamed  the  "snow-eater."  The 
bora  of  the  Adriatic  and  the  mistral 
of  the  French  Riviera  differ  from 
the  foehn  in  the  fact  that  they 
blow  from  a  cold  mountainous  in- 
terior to  a  warm  coastland,  and, 
therefore,  though  heated  in  their 
descent,  produce  the  impression  of 
a  cold  wind. 

Types  of  wind,  the  world  over, 
are  not  numerous ;  but  as  the  local 
examples  of  a  given  type  were  named 
before  their  generic  identity  was 
recognized  the  number  of  wind 
names  in  use  amounts  to  several 
hundred.  The  khamsin,  harmattan, 
simoon,  leveche,  leste,  levanter, 
pampero,  zonda,  buran,  purga, 
brick  fielder,  southerly  burster, 
williwaw,  pontias,  tivano,  ora,  etc., 
are  a  few  of  these  locally  named 
winds. 


MOISTURE   IN    THE    AIR 

For  a  given  temperature  of  the 
air  there  is  a  maximum  amount  of 
moisture  that  can  be  present  in  an 
invisible  form  (water  vapor).  When 
the  air  is  charged  to  the  limit  it 
is  said  to  be  "saturated."  Absolute 
humidity  is  the  weight  of  water  va- 
por present,  per  unit  volume,  or  the 
tension  of  this  vapor;  relative  hu- 
midity, the  ratio  of  the  amount  pres- 
ent to  the  amount  necessary  for  sat- 
uration, expressed  in  percentage. 
Cooling  of  saturated  air  causes  con- 
densation, in  the  form  of  cloud,  fog, 
mist,  rain,  snow,  hail,  dew  or  hoar- 
frost. The  temperature  at  which 
condensation  occurs  is  called  the 
dew-point,  and  this  varies  with  the 
humidity. 


BESSON'S    NEPHOMETER    FOR    MEASTTR- 
ING   CLOUDINESS 


The  highest  clouds  consist  of  ice 
needles,  and  present  a  feathery  ap- 
pearance. Fleecy-looking  clouds  are 
composed  of  Uttle  droplets  of  wa- 
ter. According  to  the  International 
Cloud  Classification  there  are  ten 


420 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


principal  forms  of  cloud;  viz.,  three 
feathery  forms,  cirrus,  cirro-stratus 
and  cirro-cumulus,  and  seven  fleecy 
or  homogeneous  forms,  alto-cumulus, 
alto-stratus,  strato-cumulus,  nimbus, 
cumulus,  cumulo-nimbus  and  stratus. 
A  few  subordinate  forms  are  also 
recognized.  A  common  type  of  cir- 
rus is  popularly  called  "mares' 
tails,"  cirro-cumulus  is  known  as 
"mackerel  sky,"  cumulus  is  called 
"w  o  o  1  p  a  c  k,"  and  cumulo-nimbus 
"thunder-clouds,"  or  "thunder- 
heads."  .  .Nimbus  is  the  rain  cloud. 
A  cloud  at  the  earth's  surface  con- 
stitutes fog.  Haze  is  a  turbid  state 
of  the  atmosphere,  sometimes  due 
merely  to  the  varying  optical  prop- 
erties of  air  of  different  tempera- 
tures and  densities,  and  sometimes 
to  the  presence  of  an  unusual 


phenomena  (photometeors) .  Falling 
raindrops  produce,  by  refraction  and 
reflection,  the  rainbow,  opposite  the 
sun.  There  is  usually  a  bright 
primary  bow  and  a  fainter  secondary 
bow;  and  one  or  both  may  be  fring- 
ed with  supernumerary  or  spurious 
boics.  Lunar  rainbows  are  some- 
times seen.  They  are,  as  a  rule, 
nearly  colorless,  owing  to  feeble  il- 
lumination. Water  clouds  produce 
around  the  sun  or  moon,  by  diffrac- 
tion, a  diffuse  reddish  ring,  called 
the  corona.  From  a  mountain  top 
or  a  balloon  a  person  sometimes  sees 
his  shadow  cast  on  a  bank  of  fog 
or  cloud.  (The  shadow  seems  "gi- 
gantic," owing  to  over-estimation  of 
its  distance. )  The  head  is  often  sur- 
rounded by  a  glory  of  colored  light, 
due  to  diffraction.  The  whole  phe- 


BANDED   FORM  OF   ALTO-CUMULUS 


amount  of  dust,  smoke  or  fine  wa- 
ter-drops. Dust-haze,  or  dry  fog,  is 
characteristic  of  dry  climates  and 
dry  seasons;  it  is  also  a  result  of 
fires  in  forests,  moors  and  prairies, 
and  of  volcanic  eruptions.  Remark- 
able instances  of  daytime  darkness 
have  sometimes  been  produced  by 
exceptionally  dense  haze  of  this 
character. 

Moisture  in  the  atmosphere  is  ac- 
countable for   a   variety   of  optical 


nomenon    is   called    the   specter   of 
the  Brocken. 

Halos  are  due  to  the  refraction  or 
reflection  (or  both)  of  light  by  ice 
crystals  in  the  atmosphere.  They 
may  take  the  form  of  rings  of  defi- 
nite angular  size  (the  commonest 
has  a  radius  of  22  degrees)  sur- 
rounding the  sun  or  moon;  also  of 
rings  or  arc's  in  various  other  posi- 
tions, and  disks  of  light  (parhelia 
and  paraselenae;  in  popular  Ian- 


THE    REALM    OF    THE    AIR 


guage,  "sundogs"  and  "moondogs"). 
Some  forms  of  halo  are  distinctly 
colored;  others  are  not.  An  excel- 
lent descriptive  account  of  such 
phenomena  will  be  found  in  the 
Monthly  Weather  Review  (published 
by  the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau)  for 
July,  1914,  pages  436-446. 

Not  all  photometeors  are  due  to 
moisture.  Mirage,  for  example,  re- 
sults from  the  refraction  of  light 
through  adjacent  atmospheric  strata 
having  very  different  densities.  One 
form  of  mirage  is  common  over  hot 
plains  and  deserts  in  calm  weather, 
presenting  the  illusive  appearance 
of  a  sheet  of  water. 


warm  season.  It  consists  of  ice  and 
compact  snow,  generally  in  concen- 
tric layers.  Little  pellets  of  snow, 
like  tiny  snowballs,  falling  chiefly 
in  early  spring  and  late  autumn, 
but  also  in  winter,  have  been  inap- 
propriately named  soft  hail  (the 
German  name  Graupel  is  preferable). 
The  term  sleet  is  applied  by  the 
United  States  Weather  Bureau  to 
small  particles  of  clear  ice — frozen 
raindrops.  The  British  apply  this 
term  to  a  mixture  of  rain  and  snow. 
Moisture  condensed  from  the  air  on 
cold  surfaces  at  night  (just  as 
it  is  condensed  on  the  outside  of 
an  ice-pitcher)  is  called  dew.  If  the 


TEMPERATURE    ZONES    (ACCORDING    TO    STTPAN) 


PRECIPITATION 

Moisture  that  is  condensed  out  of 
the  atmosphere  and  deposited  on  the 
earth  is  called  precipitation.  The 
commonest  liquid  form  of  precipita- 
tion is  rain,  and  the  commonest 
frozen  form,  snow  (each  flake  of 
which  is  an  aggregation  of  tiny  ice- 
crystals).  Hail,  properly  so  called, 
falls  almost  exclusively  in  connec- 
tion with  thunderstorms,  and  hence, 
in  our  latitudes,  is  limited  to  the 


deposit  occurs  in  a  frozen  form  it 
is  called  hoarfrost. 

Fog  drifting  against  terrestrial  ob- 
jects in  cold  weather  sometimes 
leaves  a  rough  deposit  of  ice,  called 
rime.  The  smooth  icy  deposit  due 
to  rain  freezing  as  it  falls — often 
very  destructive  to  tree  branches, 
telegraph  wires,  and  the  like — is  now 
officially  termed  glaze  in  this  coun- 
try, but  is  popularly  misnamed 
"sleet."  In  England  it  is  known  as 


422 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


glazed  frost.  The  occurrence  of 
glaze  on  an  extensive  scale  consti- 
tutes an  ice  storm. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of 
precipitation  passing  mention  may 
be  made  of  the  widespread  delusions 
that  prevail  as  to  the  possibility  of 
producing  or  preventing  it  artificial- 
ly. It  is  held,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
cannonading  and  other  explosions 
cause  rain,  and,  on  the  other,  that 
the  firing  of  cannon,  bombs  and  rock- 
ets drives  away  hail.  Both  beliefs 
are  unfounded.  The  energy  involved 
in  such  explosions  is  insignificant  in 
comparison  with  the  atmospheric 
forces  that  determine  the  occurrence 
of  precipitation. 

CLIMATE 

The  meteorological  conditions  that 
are  characteristic  of  a  particular  re- 
gion constitute  its  climate.  With  re- 
spect to  temperature,  climates  are 
distinguished  not  only  as  hot,  cold 
and  temperate,  but  also  as  equable 
and  the  reverse.  Marine  climates — 
i.  e.,  those  of  regions  exposed  to 
winds  from  the  ocean — have  small 
daily  and  yearly  ranges  of  tempera- 
ture, while  continental  climates — 
those  withdrawn  from  oceanic  in- 
fluences— are  subject  to  great  ex- 
tremes of  temperature.  The  highest 
temperatures  are  not  limited  to  the 
equatorial  regions,  nor  the  lowest 
to  the  polar  regions.  Probably  no 
other  part  of  the  world  experiences 
quite  such  hot  weather  as  prevails 
in  the  deserts  of  southern  California 
in  summer.  A  shade  temperature 
of  134  deg.  Fahr.  has  been  regis- 
tered at  Greenland  Ranch,  in  Death 
Valley.  Oceanic  islands  in  the  tor- 
rid zone  never  have  temperatures  as 
high  as  those  that  prevail  widely 
over  the  interior  of  the  United 
States  during  "hot  waves."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  cold  weather  experi- 
enced in  winter  in  our  northwestern 
and  north-central  States  far  sur- 
passes anything  known  in  much 
more  northerly  seaboard  regions  of 
western  Europe.  The  lowest  winter 


temperatures  in  the  world  are  those 
that  occur  in  north-central  Siberia, 
where,  at  Verkhoyansk,  an  official 
temperature  of  90  degrees  below 
zero,  Fahr.,  has  been  recorded. 

Rainfall,  as  an  element  of  climate, 
includes  all  forms  of  aqueous  pre- 
cipitation (the  frozen  forms  being 
expressed  in  their  "water  equiva- 
lent"). Measurements  of  rainfall  re- 
fer to  the  depth  of  water  that  would 
lie  upon  the  ground  if  none  of  it 
ran  off,  soaked  in  or  evaporated. 
Annual  rainfalls  may  be  classified, 
especially  with  respect  to  their  ag- 
ricultural significance,  as  excessive 
when  over  75  inches;  copious,  50-75 
inches  ;  moderate,  25-50  inches ;  light, 
10-25  inches ;  desert,  under  10  inches. 
The  heaviest  rainfall  occurs  within 
or  near  the  tropics  (though  great 
deserts  also  occur  in  this  region). 
The  rainiest  place  in  the  world  for 
which  we  have  meteorological  rec- 
ords is  Cherrapunji,  a  hill  station  in 
India,  with  an  annual  rainfall  of 
about  426  inches.  The  heaviest  mean 
annual  rainfall  in  the  United  States 
(not  including  Alaska)  is  about  133 
inches  in  Tillamook  County,  Oregon. 
The  heaviest  snowfall  in  the  United 
States  probably  occurs  in  the  high 
Sierra  Nevada,  near  the  border  be- 
tween Nevada  and  California.  A 
total  depth  of  65  feet  has  been 
known  to  fall  here  in  the  course  of 
a  winter. 

That  "the  climate  has  changed" 
within  a  generation  or  so  is  a  stub- 
born popular  delusion,  which  pre- 
vails more  or  less  all  over  the  world, 
and  has  probably  prevailed  in  every 
age.  The  belief  in  the  "old-fashioned 
winter"  is  an  example  of  this  de- 
lusion. More  than  a  century  ago 
American  philosophers  wrote  disser- 
tations on  the  changes  of  climate 
that  they  supposed  had  occurred 
since  early  colonial  times.  Such 
ideas  arise  chiefly  from  the  fact  that 
exceptional  weather  impresses  itself 
more  lastingly  upon  one's  memory 
than  normal  weather. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  HEAVENS  ABOVE 

By  C.  F.  TALMAN 


TENNYSON,  who,  of  all  the 
brethren  of  his  craft,  did  most 
to  poetize  the  facts  of  astron- 
omy, speaks  of  the  stars  as  "cold 
fires,  yet  with  power  to  burn  and 
brand  his  nothingness  into  man." 
Nonentity  has  its  advantages.  A 
sovereign  remedy  for  the  trivial 
worries  of  human  life  is  the  con- 
templation of  the  starlit  sky  and  the 
realization  of  the  infinitesimal  im- 
portance of  the  earth  and  all  things 
earthly  in  comparison  with  a  bound- 
less universe.  The  nightly  spectacle 
of  the  stars  is,  however,  commonly 
ignored.  Many  people  look  at  it  all 
their  lives  without  really  seeing  it. 
The  more  conspicuous  constellations 
ought  to  be  as  •  familiar  to  every 
human  being  with  two  eyes  in  his 
head  as  the  town  hall  or  his  next- 
door  neighbor's  stable.  They  are  far 
from  being  so.  Most  people  you 
meet  will  admit  frankly  that  the 
only  constellation  they  know  by 
sight  is  the  Big  Dipper — which,  as 
it  happens,  is  not  a  constellation 
at  all. 

A  knowledge  of  the  heavens  is 
more  general  in  primitive  and  pio- 
neer communities  than  in  centers  of 
civilization  and  culture.  The  pas- 
toral tribes  of  Chaldea  and  Arabia, 
thirty  centuries  ago,  were  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  stars  than  are 
modern  New  Yorkers  and  Londoners. 
During  the  South  African  war  the 
English  soldiers  were  astonished  at 
the  ease  with  which  the  colonial 
troops  marched  at  night,  using  the 


stars  to  guide  them  in  lieu  of  a 
compass. 

The  relative  "nothingness"  of  the 
earth  and  its  inhabitants  is  chiefly 
a  modern  idea,  though  it  was  not 
entirely  unfamiliar  to  the  specula- 
tive philosophers  of  antiquity. 
Thanks  to  the  brilliant  labors  of 
many  astronomers — of  whom  Coper- 
nicus should  be  mentioned  first  of 
all — we  now  know  that  the  world 
on  which  we  live  is  a  planet  or 
satellite,  revolving  humbly  around 
an  enormously  greater  body,  which 
we  call  the  sun ;  and  we  know  that 
the  sun,  in  its  turn,  is  a  rather  un- 
important member  of  a  vast  system 
of  suns,  or  stars.  The  sun  looks 
bigger  than  the  other  stars  only  be- 
cause it  is  nearer  to  us. 

How  many  stars  are  there?  Sur- 
vey the  heavens  on  a  cloudless  and 
moonless  night,  and  you  wrill  prob- 
ably get  the  impression  that  the 
number  visible  to  the  naked  eye  is 
almost  infinite.  This  impression  is, 
however,  quite  erroneous.  The 
greatest  number  of  stars  which  the 
unaided  eye  can  distinguish  at  any 
one  place  on  the  earth  and  at  any 
one  time  is  hardly  more  than  two 
thousand.  With  an  opera-glass 
many  thousands  more  can  be  seen, 
and  this  little  instrument  will  be 
found  an  invaluable  adjunct  in  a 
study  of  the  heavens.  A  portable 
telescope  with  an  object-glass  only 
two  inches  in  diameter  discloses,  in 
the  entire  sky,  upwards  of  700,000 
stars.  Great  telescopes,  such  as  those 


Copyright  by  Munn   &   Co.,   Inc. 


424 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


THE   ATWOOD   SPHERE   FOR   STUDYING   THE   STARS 

as  installed  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Chicago.  The  stars,  down  to  the  fifth  magni- 
tude, are  represented  by  perforations,  of  different  sizes,  in  the  sheet  iron  sphere, 
through  which  light  shines  from  the  exterior.  The  sphere  can  be  revolved  by  an  electric 
motor,  making  the  constellations  rise  and  set. 


of  the  Lick,  Yerkes  and  Mount  Wil- 
son Observatories,  show  at  least 
two  hundred  million.  There  are  un- 
doubtedly many  million  more  be- 
yond the  range  of  all  telescopes  on 
account  of  their  prodigious  dis- 
tances, and  there  are  probably  many 
comparatively  near  stars  that  are 
invisible  because  they  give  little  or 
no  light.  Indeed  these  dark  stars 
are  suspected  to  be  much  more 
numerous  than  the  bright  ones.  One 
estimate  makes  them  4,000  times  as 
numerous ;  but  this  is  little  better 
than  a  guess. 

The  brightness  of  the  stars,  as 
viewed  from  the  earth,  is  expressed 
on  a  scale  of  "magnitudes,"  so  re- 
lated to  one  another  that  an  average 
star  of  one  magnitude  is  two  and 
one-half  times  as  bright  as  one  of  the 
next  lower  magnitude.  Of  the  first, 
or  brightest,  magnitude  there  are 
only  twenty  stars;  the  brightest  of 
all  being  Sirius,  the  Dog  Star.  There 
are  sixty-five  stars  of  the  second 


magnitude,  and  two  hundred  of  the 
third.  The  faintest  stars  visible  to 
the  naked  eye  on  a  clear,  moonless 
night  are  of  the  sixth  magnitude. 

That  the  astronomer,  without 
leaving  our  tiny  earth,  can  measure 
the  distances  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
(or  at  least  of  many  of  them)  is 
neither  more  nor  less  wonderful 
than  that  the  surveyor,  without 
crossing  a  river,  can  measure  the 
distance  of  a  tree  on  the  opposite 
bank;  though  the  astronomer's  task 
requires  more  delicate  instruments 
and  more  painstaking  observations. 
In  both  cases  quite  a  simple  trigono- 
metrical operation  is  involved.  The 
surveyor  gets  the  bearing  of  the 
tree  from  each  end  of  a  measured 
base-line;  and  having  thus  two 
angles  and  one  side  of  a  triangle, 
the  rest  is  easy.  In  measuring  the 
distance  of  the  moon  from  the  earth, 
the  astronomer  uses  for  a  base-line 
the  known  distance  between  two 
widely  separated  observatories — say 


I : 


9-incb  Transit  Circle  40-incb   Equatorial.    Yerkes  Observatory 

86-inch  Equatorial,    U.   S.   Naval  Observatory  Jferkes  Observatory,  Williams  Bay,  Wis, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


426 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


EXTERIOR  OF  THE  SPHERE 

at  Greenwich  and  Cape  Town — and. 
gets  the  bearing  of  the  moon,  or 
rather  its  apparent  position  as  pro- 
jected on  the  far  more  distant  back- 
ground of  stars,  from  each  observa- 
tory. The  difference  in  the  direction 
of  the  moon  as  seen  from  two 
places  on  earth  (generally  reduced 
to  the  difference  in  its  direction 
from  the  center  and  surface  of  the 
earth  respectively)  is  known  as  the 
moon's  "parallax,"  and  gives  us  the 
moon's  distance — about  239,000  miles. 
The  sun's  parallax  is  found  in  a 
somewhat  different  manner,  but  the 
process  also  involves  the  use  of  the 
distance  between  two  places  on 
earth  as  a  base-line.  The  distance 
of  the  sun  from  the  earth  is  about 
93,000,000  miles.  An  express  train 
would  take  more  than  250  years  to 
perform  a  journey  of  this  length, 
and  a  cannon  ball  about  nine  years. 
Light,  traveling  at  a  speed  of  186,000 
miles  a  second,  requires  a  little  more 
than  eight  minutes  to  reach  us  from 
the  sun. 

Yet,  this  distance,  enormous  as  it 
is,    is    insignificant    compared    with 


the  distances  of  even  the  nearest 
stars.  In  measuring  the  parallax  of 
a  star  terrestrial  distances  are  far 
too  small  to  serve  as  the  base  line, 
and  accordingly  the  star  is  sighted 
from  two  opposite  points  in  the 
earth's  circuit  about  the  sun,  giving 
a  base-line  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  million  miles  in  length.  Even  so, 
the  base-line  is  barely  long  enough 
to  give  a  measurable  parallax  for  a 
comparatively  small  number  of 
stars,  and  the  observations  involved 
are  among  the  most  refined  known 
to  astronomy.  Photographic  meth- 
ods are  now  employed  in  measuring 
stellar  parallaxes. 

The  distances  of  the  stars  are  so 
great  that  to  state  them  in  miles 
would  be  as  awkward  as  stating  the 
distance  from  New  York  to  Cal- 
cutta in  inches.  Hence  a  larger  unit 
is  commonly  employed,  known  as  the 
"light-year."  This  is  the  distance 
which  light  travels  in  a  year,  and 
is  a  little  less  than  six  trillion  miles 
(according  to  the  American  and 
French  meaning  of  the  term  "tril- 
lion," corresponding  to  the  British 
"billion").  Another  unit,  more  re- 
cently introduced,  is  the  "parsec," 
defined  as  the  distance  at  which  a 
star's  parallax  is  one  second  of  arc, 
or  206,265  times  the  distance  of  the 


MECHANISM   OF   THE   SPHERE 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


427 


earth  from  the  sun.  At  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  parsecs  our  sun 
would  be  a  star  of  the  tenth  magni- 
tude. Our  nearest  neighbor  in  stel- 
lar space  is  a  star  of  the  southern 
heavens  called  Alpha  Centauri  (the 
brightest  star  in  the  constellation 
of  the  Centaur),  its  distance  being 
4.3  light-years. 

Concerning  the  actual  dimensions 
of  the  stars  we  have  little  positive 
knowledge,  but  it  is  certain  that 
some  are  very  much  larger  than 
others,  and  that  our  sun  is  far  from 
being  one  of  the  giants  of  the  uni- 
verse. To  Canopus,  a  magnificent 
star  of  the  southern  skies,  has  re- 
cently been  ascribed  by  some  as- 
tronomers the  honor  of  being  the 
biggest  of  the  stars,  one  estimate 
giving  him  a  volume  about  two  and 
one-half  million  times  as  great  as 
that  of  the  sun.  While  such  figures 
are  highly  speculative,  they  are  not 
improbable. 

What  are  the  stars  made  of?  Be- 
fore the  invention  of  the  spectro- 
scope there  appeared  to  be  little 
prospect  that  mankind  would  ever 
find  the  answer  to  this  question.  The 
spectroscope  is  an  instrument  which 
analyzes  a  beam  of  light,  and  fur- 
nishes certain  information  concern- 
ing the  source  from  which  it  comes. 
It  spreads  out  the  light  into  a  rain- 
bow-colored strip,  called  the  spec- 
trum. If  the  source  is  a  luminous 
gas,  the  light  is  broken  up  into  a 
number  of  bright  lines  or  bands.  If 
the  light,  coming  from  a  luminous 
solid,  liquid,  or  dense  gas,  has  passed 
through  a  cooler  and  less  luminous 
gas,  the  spectrum  as  a  whole  is 
bright,  but  is  crossed  by  dark  lines 
or  bands.  In  either  case  the  posi- 
tions of  these  lines  and  bands  reveal 
the  chemical  composition  of  the 
gaseous  material. 

The  interpretation  of  the  lines 
and  bands  depends  upon  laboratory 
experiments,  and  the  spectroscope  is 
much  used  by  chemists  in  making 
analyses;  but  it  is  also  used,  in 
conjunction  with  the  telescope,  by 
astronomers,  to  determine  the  com- 


position, not  of  solid  or  quasi-solid 
bodies  in  the  heavens,  but  of  the 
gaseous  envelopes  or  atmospheres  by 
which  these  bodies  are  surrounded. 
Both  our  sun  and  the  other  visible 
stars  are  so  hot  that  some  or  all  of 
the  substances  of  which  they  con- 
sist (apart  from  those  which  are 
gaseous  at  low  temperatures)  are 
vaporized,  and  form  such  enveloping 
atmospheres. 

The  solar  spectrum  shows  that 
the  sun's  atmosphere,  and  hence  the 
sun  itself,  contains  an  abundance  of 
calcium,  iron,  hydrogen,  sodium, 
nickel,  and  other  substances  found 
on  earth.  About  forty  terrestrial 
elements  are  positively  known  to  ex- 
ist in  the  sun,  and  the  presence  of 
others  is  indicated  on  less  certain 
evidence. 

With  the  aid  of  photography  the 
spectra  of  more  than  200,000  stars 
have  been  examined.  Some  show 
the  presence  of  a  few,  others  of 
many  elements  known  on  earth.  The 
differences  between  different  stellar 
spectra  are,  apparently,  not  due  to 
any  radical  differences  in  the  com- 
position of  the  stars  themselves,  but 
rather  to  the  fact  that  their  physi- 
cal conditions  differ,  especially  as 
to  temperature,  and  hence  they  have 
different  kinds  of  atmospheres.  In 
short,  the  stars,  the  sun  and  the 
earth  are  probably  all  made  of  the 
same  sort  of  matter. 

The  stars  are  frequently  described 
as  "fixed,"  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  planets  of  our  solar  system, 
which,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
change  their  apparent  positions  in 
the  sky  more  or  less  rapidly  with 
respect  to  the  stars  and  to  one  an- 
other. Actually,  however,  all  the 
stars  are  in  rapid  motion  through 
space.  Our  sun,  for  example,  travels 
at  a  speed  of  about  twelve  miles  a 
second.  Many  stars  move  much 
faster.  At  the  Mount  Wilson  Ob- 
servatory one  has  recently  been 
found  with  a  velocity  of  about  358 
miles  a  second. 

The  movements  of  stars  make 
themselves  evident  in  two  ways.  In 


428 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


the  course  of  years  certain  stars 
have  been  observed  to  change  their 
positions  a  little  with  respect  to 
other  stars.  This  change  is  known 
as  "proper  motion,"  and  is  always 
very  gradual.  The  greatest  proper 
motion  known  is  that  of  a  star  dis- 
covered by  Barnard,  in  1916,  which 
in  about  180  years  changes  its  place 
in  the  sky  by  an  amount  equal  to 
the  apparent  diameter  of  the  moon. 
Proper  motion  of  a  star  whose  dis- 
tance from  us  is  known  by  observa- 
tions of  parallax  shows  how  fast  the 
star  is  moving  across  the  line  of  our 
vision,  i.  e.,  the  line  extending  from 
our  eyes  to  the  star,  but  does  not 
tell  us  whether,  or  how  fast,  the 
star  is  approaching  or  receding  from 
us.  This  so-called  radial  motion,  or 
motion  in  the  line  of  sight,  is  de- 
termined by  means  of  the  spectro- 
scope. The  result  of  such  motion  is 
a  slight  displacement  of  the  spectral 
lines  from  their  normal  positions. 
Displacement  in  one  direction  shows 
that  the  star  is  approaching,  and  in 
the  other  that  it  is  receding;  while 
the  amount  of  displacement  indicates 
the  speed  of  approach  or  recession. 
In  general  the  stars  are  so  far 
apart  that  they  show  no  definite 
effects  of  one  another's  attraction, 
but  there  are  a  number  of  pairs  of 
stars  which  are  obviously  revolving 
around  common  centers  of  gravity. 
These  are  called  "binaries."  Among 
those  thus  far  discovered  the  periods 
of  revolution  range  all  the  way 
from  a  few  hours  to  1,500  years. 
Some  of  these  pairs  are  so  close 
that  they  appear  as  a  single  star 
even  in  the  most  powerful  telescopes, 
but  their  double  character  is  re- 
vealed by  the  spectroscope,  and 
hence  they  are  known  as  "spectro- 
scopic  binaries."  If  the  plane  in 
which  the  stars  revolve  lies  more  or 
less  "edge  on"  to  the  earth,  each 
star  will,  of  course,  successively 
move  toward  and  from  us  in  the 
course  of  its  revolution.  This 
causes  a  shifting  of  the  spectral 
lines  similar  to  that  mentioned  in 
the  last  paragraph.  If  both  stars 


are  bright  enough  to  show  spectra, 
the  corresponding  lines  of  these 
spectra  will  alternately  coincide  and 
separate.  If  only  one  star  shows  a 
spectrum,  its  lines  will  shift  alter- 
nately to  right  and  left.  When,  in 
such  cases,  the  parallax  of  the  stars 
is  known,  we  can  compute  from  well- 
known  laws  of  gravitational  motion 
the  actual  dimensions  of  the  orbits 
in  which  they  revolve  and  the 
masses  of  the  stars,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  best  telescopes  do 
not  show  these  bodies  separately, 
and  may  not  show  one  of  them  at 
all — a  remarkable  example  of  what 
has  been  called  "the  astronomy  of 
the  invisible." 

Many  stars  are  observed  to  vary 
in  brightness,  either  regularly  or 
otherwise.  When  there  is  a  regular 
period  of  variation,  the  spectroscope 
generally  shows  the  star  to  be 
double,  and  the  variations  of  bright- 
ness are  apparently  determined  by 
the  different  aspects  presented  by 
the  two  components  during  the  peri- 
od of  revolution.  There  is  also  good 
reason  to  believe  that  some  variable 
stars  are  not  spherical,  but  are 
elongated  into  an  elliptical,  pear- 
shaped,  or  hour-glass-shaped  form, 
and  the  rotation  of  such  a  star  might 
present  to  us  markedly  varying 
amounts  of  surface.  In  an  interest- 
ing class  of  variable  stars  known  as 
"eclipsing  variables" — of  which  Al- 
gol, the  "demon  star,"  is  the  most 
famous  example — the  principal  star 
of  a  pair  is  periodically  "eclipsed" 
by  the  passage  in  front  of  it  of  a 
less  luminous  (not  necessarily  dark) 
satellite,  which  is  itself  invisible  in 
our  telescopes.  There  are  still  other 
variables  of  which  the  fluctuation  in 
brightness  is  apparently  the  result 
of  periodic  outbreaks  of  activity  in 
the  star  itself,  due  to  causes  of 
which  we  have  no  knowledge. 

It  has  occasionally  happened  that 
a  temporary  star  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  the  firmament,  and  some 
of  these  "nova?,"  as  they  are  called, 
have  been  of  great  brilliancy.  The 
most  famous  of  them  was  one  which 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


429 


appeared  in  the  year  1572,  and  which 
is  commonly  associated  with  the 
name  of  Tycho  Brahe,  the  Danish 
nobleman-astronomer,  because  he 
wrote  a  description  of  it,  though 
he  did  not  discover  it.  For  some 
days  it  was  brighter  than  any  other 
star  in  the  sky  and  visible  in  broad 
daylight.  It  then  gradually  faded, 
and  at  the  end  of  sixteen  months 
had  become  invisible.  Another  re- 
markable nova  appeared  in  the  con- 
stellation of  Perseus  in  1901.  Two 
days  before  its  discovery  a  photo- 
graph of  that  portion  of  the  heavens, 
showing  stars  as  faint  as  the 
eleventh  magnitude,  did  not  include 
it.  When  first  observed,  it  was  of 
the  third  magnitude,  and  it  bright- 
ened in  two  days  to  the  first,  after 
which  it  rapidly  faded.  It  is  still 


hypothesis,  supported  by  spectro- 
scopic  evidence,  novae  are  due  to 
the  passage  of  a  normally  faint  or 
dark  star  through  a  gaseous  region 
in  space;  the  star  being  made  lu- 
minous by  friction,  just  as  a  meteor- 
ite becomes  luminous  in  passing 
through  the  earth's  atmosphere. 

Such  gaseous  regions  are  known 
to  exist,  and  many  of  them  are  self- 
luminous,  constituting  some  of  the 
bright  cloud-like  patches  in  the 
heavens  known  as  "nebulae,"  two  or 
three  of  which  are  faintly  visible  to 
the  naked  eye,  while  probably  half 
a  million  or  more  are  within  the 
range  of  the  biggest  telescopes,  or 
the  camera.  Not  all  nebulae  are  gas- 
eous. Many  are  merely  distant 
clusters  of  stars,  presenting  in  ordi- 
nary telescopes  the  same  appearance 


Photographed  by  Ritchey,   Yerkes  Observatory 
The  Great  Nebula  in  Andromeda 


Spiral  Nebula 


visible  in  the  telescope  as  a  star  of 
the  twelfth  magnitude. 

Various  explanations  of  these  sud- 
den apparitions  have  been  suggested. 
The  collision  of  two  dark  or  faint 
stars  in  space  would  doubtless  give 
rise  to  a  great  burst  of  luminosity, 
or  a  vast  eruption  of  glowing  mat- 
ter might  occur  from  a  star  that 
was  previously  quiescent  (but  this 
is  an  explanation  that  needs  to  be 
explained).  According  to  a  recent 


as  gaseous  nebulae.  Whether  a 
nebula  is  gaseous  or  not  can  some- 
times, but  not  always,  be  determined 
by  the  spectroscope. 

Nebulae  assume  various  character- 
istic forms;  some  are  ring-shaped, 
some  elliptical;  some  (the  "plan- 
etary" nebulae)  disk-shaped,  and  al- 
most uniformly  bright  throughout. 
Others  are  quite  irregular  in  shape ; 
of  this  type  is  the  Great  Nebula  in 
Orion,  the  most  magnificent  object 


430 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


of  its  kind  in  the  sky.  This  nebula, 
which  can  be  vaguely  seen  with  the 
naked  eye,  surrounds  one  of  the 
stars  in  Orion's  sword : 

"a  single  misty  star 
Which  is  the  second  in  a   line  of 

stars 
That  seem  a  sword  beneath  a  belt 

of  three" 

(a  description,  by  the  way,  that  is 
probably  lost  on  ninety-nine  out  of 
every  hundred  readers  of  Tennyson's 
"Merlin  and  Vivien" — especially  in 
America,  where  astronomy  has  been 
almost  completely  banished  from 
schools  and  academies). 

Fine  details  of  the  nebula?  which 
the  eye,  aided  by  the  best  of  tele- 
scopes, cannot  detect  are  revealed  by 
long-exposure  photographs.  It  thus 
appears  that  many,  and  perhaps 
most,  of  them  are  made  up  of  spir- 
ally twisted  wisps  of  light,  studded 
with  points  of  condensation.  The 
camera  has  also  disclosed  the  pres- 
ence of  faint  nebulous  matter 
spreading  over  great  areas -of  the 
sky ;  in  some  cases  enveloping  a 
whole  constellation.  Just  as  thero 
are  dark  stars,  so  there  appear  to  be 
many  dark  nebula?.  It  is  probable 
that  such  objects,  silhouetted  against 
a  luminous  background  of  dense 
star  fields,  account  for  some  of  the 
striking  black  patches  in  the  sky, 
once  supposed  to  be  merely  starless 
regions  of  space. 

The  galaxy,  or  Milky  Way,  a 
great  luminous  band  encircling  the 
sky,  presents  a  nebulous  appearance 
to  the  naked  eye,  but  even  a  small 
telescope  shows  it  to  be  made  up  of 
innumerable  stars,  from  the  eighth 
magnitude  down,  including  many 
dense  clusters.  It  contains,  however, 
very  few  gaseous  nebulre.  The  num- 
ber of  stars  in  a  given  area  of  sky 
decreases  more  or  less  regularly  as 
we  move  away  from  the  galaxy. 
Thus  it  seems  likely  that  the  stellar 
universe,  or,  at  least,  the  system  of 
stars  to  which  our  sun  belongs,  has 
a  more  or  less  disk-like  shape  (com- 
parable to  that  of  a  thin  watch), 
with  the  sun  and  the  solar  system 


somewhere  near  the  middle  of  it. 
We  should  see  the  densest  accumula- 
tion of  stars  in  looking  toward  the 
edge  of  the  disk,  and  this  would 
correspond  with  the  galaxy. 

We  have  now,  in  a  truly  cosmo- 
politan spirit,  taken  a  general  sur- 
vey of  the  universe  before  paying 
particular  attention  to  the  little  nook 
of  it  in  which  we  live.  It  is  time 
to  say  a  few  words  about  the  solar 
system. 

At  the  center  of  this  system  is 
the  sun ;  an  intensely  hot  rotating 
globe,  about  866,000  miles  in  diam- 
eter, probably  of  very  dense  gaseous 
matter,  completely  enclosed  and  hid- 
den from  our  view  by  a  shell  of 
clouds,  which  we  call  the  "photo- 
sphere." While  our  earth  has  a  cool 
atmosphere,  composed  of  nitrogen, 
oxygen  and  other  substances  that 
are  gaseous  at  ordinary  tempera- 
tures, and  in  which  water-vapor  is 
condensed,  by  cooling,  into  the  drop- 
lets and  ice-crystals  of  which  ter- 
restrial clouds  consist,  the  sun,  on 
account  of  its  vastly  higher  tempera- 
ture, maintains  an  atmosphere  in 
which  even  the  most  refractory  ele- 
ments are  vaporized,  and  its  clouds, 
also  liquefied  and  solidified  by  cool- 
ing, do  not  consist  of  water,  but  of 
various  metals,  with  carbon  and 
other  elements. 

The  solar  atmosphere  extends  far 
above  the  photosphere.  Immediately 
overlying  the  latter  is  a  gaseous  lay- 
er, consisting  partly  and  perhaps 
chiefly  of  hydrogen,  called  the 
"chromosphere."  In  structure  it  may 
be  compared  to  a  sheet  of  flame, 
for,  though  we  can  see  the  photo- 
sphere through  it,  the  chromosphere 
itself  shines  with  a  brilliant  scarlet 
light,  which  is  visible  along  the 
border  or  "limb"  of  the  sun  at  the 
time  of  a  solar  eclipse.  At  such 
times  long  outward  projections  from 
the  chromosphere  are  often  seen,  and 
these  are  called  "prominences."  With 
the  aid  of  the  spectroscope  it  is  pos- 
sible to  see  both  the  chromosphere 
and  the  prominences  without  an 
eclipse,  and  even  to  photograph 


432 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


them.  Some  prominences  are  quies- 
cent, hanging  for  days  over  the  same 
spot,  while  others  may  be  seen  to 
shoot  upward,  often  at  a  speed  of 
from  100  to  200  miles  a  second,  and 
to  altitudes  which,  in  extreme  cases, 
amount  to  from  200,000  to  more  than 
300,000  miles.  Lastly,  the  sun  has 
an  extremely  tenuous  outer  atmos- 
phere;  of  vast  extent,  which  is  seen 
as  a  broad  wispy  glow  during  an 
eclipse,  and  is  known  as  the  "co- 
rona." 

The  surface  of  the  photosphere 
usually  exhibits  a  few  or  many  dark 
patches,  of  various  shapes,  known 
as  "sunspots."  These  vary  in  size 
.from  tiny  points,  just  visible  in  the 
telescope,  to  great  blotches  that  can 
be  seen,  through  smoked  glass,  with 


holes  in  the  photosphere,  and  were 
formerly  believed  to  be,  at  least, 
deep  depressions  in  its  surface;  but 
they  are  now  regarded  as  the  tops 
of  vortices,  or  cyclones,  in  the  solar 
atmosphere.  This  atmosphere  is  un- 
doubtedly the  seat  of  an  active  cir- 
culation, analogous  to  the  wind- 
system  of  the  earth,  and  one  conse- 
quence of  the  circulation  is  that  the 
cloud  layer,  or  photosphere,  rotates 
much  more  rapidly  near  the  solar 
equator  than  elsewhere ;  viz.,  once  in 
about  twenty-five  days,  as  compared 
with  thirty  days  and  upwards  in 
high  solar  latitudes. 

The  temperature  at  the  surface  of 
the  sun  far  exceeds  the  highest  that 
can  be  attained  with  the  electric 
furnace,  the  most  powerful  heating 


SATURN,    THE    LIGHTEST    OF    THE    PLANETS    IN    PROPORTION    TO    ITS    SIZE, 

WOULD  FLOAT  IN  WATEB.    (IF  THERE   WERE   AN  OCEAN 

BIG    ENOUGH   TO    HOLD   IT!) 


the  naked  eye,  and  are  actually 
100,000  miles  or  more  in  diameter. 
The  spots  are  transient  phenomena, 
lasting  from  a  few  days  to  a  few 
months,  and  changing  more  or  less 
rapidly  in  shape.  As  the  sun  ro- 
tates, carrying  the  spots  with  it,  the 
latter  appear  at  one  limb  of  the 
solar  disk  and  travel  across  to  the 
opposite  limb.  The  spots  look  like 


device  known  to  man.  Estimates 
range  up  to  16,000  or  18,000  deg. 
Fahr.  The  sun's  output  of  heat  has 
been  the  object  of  elaborate  observa- 
tions with  instruments,  such  as  the 
bolometer  and  the  pyrheliometer,  de- 
signed for  measuring  the  minute 
fraction  of  this  heat  that  we  receive 
on  earth,  and  it  is  found  to  be  sub- 
ject to  slight  fluctuations;  yet  in 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


433 


Neptune 
(1  satellite) 


Uranus 
(4  satellites) 


Saturn 

(10  satellites) 


Jupiter 

(9  satellites) 


Asteroids 


Mars 

(2  satellites) 


Earth 

(1  satellite) 


Venus 


Mercury 


RELATIVE    SIZES    OF   PLANETS 
(Sun's    Diameter    on    Same    Scale    Equals 

Length    of    Cut) 

Corrected  to  date  from  Todd's  "New  As- 
tronomy." Copyright  1897  and  1906.  Used 
by  permission  of  American  Book  Company, 
publishers. 


the  long  run  it  remains  substantially 
uniform,  and  probably  has  so  re- 
mained since  prehistoric  times.  How 
is  this  supply  of  heat  maintained? 
The  impact  of  meteors  falling  with 
enormous  speed  into  the  sun  would 
account  for  part  of  it,  but  the  much 
slower  fall  of  the  outer  portions  of 
the  "  sun  itself — in  other  words,  a 
gradual  shrinking  of  the  whole  body 
— seems  to  be  the  chief  explanation. 
It  has  been  computed  that  a  con- 
traction of  only  six  miles  per  cen- 
tury would  keep  the  sun  at  its  pres- 
ent temperature.  Several  centuries 
must  elapse,  however,  before  this 
slow  shrinking,  if  it  exists,  can  be 
verified  with  the  telescope. 

The  student  who  has  familiarized 
himself  with  the  constellations  and 
their  principal  stars  with  the  aid  of 
star  maps  will  notice  in  the  noc- 
turnal sky  a  few  star-like  objects, 
some  of  them  very  brilliant,  which 
are  not  shown  on  the  maps,  and 
which  move  from  one  constellation 
to  another.  Their  paths  all  lie  with- 
in a  comparatively  narrow  zone  of 
the  heavens,  called  the  "zodiac." 
These  are  the  planets.  Compared 
with  the  stars  and  the  sun  they  are 
actually  of  very  small  size,  though 
some  of  them  outshine  any  of  the 
stars  because  of  their  proximity  to 
us.  The  nearest  of  all  the  planets 
does  not  shine  in  our  skies;  it  lies 
at  our  feet.  We  call  it  the  earth. 
There  are  eight  known  planets ;  not 
counting  their  attendant  moons,  or 
satellites,  nor  the  small  bodies 
known  as  asteroids,  or  planetoids. 
All  the  planets,  with  their  moons, 
and  also  the  asteroids,  revolve 
around  the  sun  in  orbits  that,  in 
most  cases,  are  nearly  circular. 
They  all  shine  with  light  reflected 
from  the  sun. 

The  names  of  the  planets,  the 
order  in  which  their  orbits  lie  from 
the  sun,  and  their  relative  sizes  are 
shown  by  the  accompanying  dia- 
gram, the  total  length  of  which  in- 
dicates the  diameter  of  the  sun,  on 
the  same  scale.  The  satellites,  not  all 
of  which  are  shown,  are  not  drawn 


434 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


to  scale  (those  of  Mars  would  be  in- 
visible if  their  relative  size  were  not 
here  much  exaggerated).  Mercury 
is  the  nearest  planet  to  the  sun. 
Though  there  has  been  much  specu- 
lation about  an  "intramercurial 
planet" — it  has  even  been  given  the 


name  Vulcan — no  such  body  is  now 
believed  to  exist.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  extremely  probable  that 
one  or  two  unknown  planets  lie  be- 
yond the  orbit  of  Neptune. 

Besides  revolving  around  the  sun, 
each  planet  rotates  on  its  axis.    The 


TELESCOPIC  VIEW  OF  THE  MOON  A  DAY  AFTER  FIRST  QUARTER 

The  image  is  inverted  as  compared  with  a  naked  eye  view.     The  rough  edge  to  the  right 

is  the    "terminator"— the  line   along  which   the   sun   is   just  rising.     Here  the 

craters   cast   long   shadows   and    are    most    favorably    observed 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


435 


rotation  of  the  earth  causes  the, 
to  earth-dwellers,  apparent  daily 
revolution  of  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars,  just  as  the  motion  of  a  train 
in  which  you  are  riding  causes  the 
apparent  motion,  in  the  opposite  di- 
rection, of  objects  outside  the  win- 
dows of  your  carriage. 

The  moons  or  satellites  have  even 
more  complex  motions  than  the  plan- 
ets. They  are  carried  by  the  latter 
around  the  sun ;  they  rotate  on  their 
axes ;  and  they  revolve  around  the 
planets  to  which  they  severally  be- 
long. Mercury  and  Venus  have  no 
moons ;  the  earth  has  only  one ;  Mars 
has  two,  both  very  small  and  very 
close  to  the  planet.  At  this  writing 
(1916)  Jupiter  is  known  to  have 
nine,  Saturn  ten,  Uranus  four,  and 
Neptune  one ;  but  it  is  not  likely  that 
all  the  satellites  of  these  four  planets 
have  been  discovered. 

Our  own  moon — the  moon — is 
much  the  nearest  of  all  celestial 
bodies  to  the  earth.  Her  diameter 
is  a  little  more  than  one-fourth  as 
great  as  the  earth's,  and  she  re- 
volves around  our  planet  in  about 
twenty-seven  and  one-third  days. 
The  lunar  "month,"  determined  by 
the  relative  positions  of  the  moon 
and  sun  in  our  skies,  is  twenty-nine 
and  one-half  days.  Since  the  moon 
always  keeps  the  same  face  toward 
the  earth,  she  turns  once  on  her 
axis  while  she  is  revolving  once 
around  the  earth. 

The  moon  is  usually  described  by 
modern  astronomers  as  a  "dead 
planet."  She  is  supposed  to  have 
had  an  atmosphere  ages  ago,  but 
to  have  lost  it,  and  to  be  devoid  of 
moisture  and  incapable  of  support- 
ing life.  All  that  is  certain,  how- 
ever, is  that  if  a  lunar  atmosphere 
exists  it  is  excessively  rare,  and 
that  most,  if  not  all,  forms  of  life 
known  to  us  would  perish  if  trans- 
planted to  our  satellite.  Some  re- 
cent observers,  notably  Professor 
Pickering,  believe  they  have  de- 
tected patches  of  vegetation  and  ice, 
frost  or  mist  on  the  lunar  surface. 
The  moon  is  the  most  interesting 


of  all  objects  in  the  telescope,  be- 
cause of  the  innumerable  mountains 
— chiefly  extinct  volcanic  craters — 
which  cover  her  surface.  Many  of 
the  craters  are  far  larger  than  any 
similar  formations  known  on  earth. 
Several  hundred  of  the  craters  have 
been  named  in  honor  of  early  as- 
tronomers and  philosophers.  The 
so-called  "seas"  on  the  moon  are 
desert  plains — perhaps  the  dry  beds 
of  former  oceans. 

The  gravitational  pull  of  the  moon, 
combined  with  that  of  the. sun,  pro- 
duces the  tides  in  our  oceans.  As 
the  earth  rotates,  a  wave  of  water 
travels  around  the  globe,  following 
the  direction  of  the  moon's  apparent 
motion,  while  another  wave,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  globe,  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  earth  itself  is 
pulled,  by  the  moon's  attraction, 
away  from  the  overlying  ocean.  Thus 
at  any  one  place  in  the  ocean  there 
are  two  tides  a  day. 

In  her  revolutions  around  the 
earth  the  moon  frequently  passes 
between  us  and  the  sun,  in  such  a 
position  as  to  obscure  the  whole  or 
a  part  of  the  sun's  disk  as  seen  from 
portions  of  our  planet,  producing  a 
solar  eclipse.  As  the  direction  of 
the  moon  at  any  time  with  respect 
to  the  sun  is  not  the  same  from  all 
parts  of  our  globe,  an  eclipse  that 
is  "total"  in  one  region  of  the  earth 
will  be  "partial"  or  nil  in  other 
regions.  At  any  one  place  "totality" 
is  very  brief,  lasting  only  three  or 
four  minutes  in  an  average  eclipse. 
There  is  a  very  narrow  zone  along 
which  totality  occurs  progressively, 
as  the  moon  advances  in  her  orbit 
and  the  earth  rotates  (these  two 
motions  are  in  the  same  direction, 
otherwise  the  duration  of  the  eclipse 
would  be  even  less)  ;  on  either  side 
is  a  much  broader  zone,  in  which 
a  partial  eclipse  is  seen ;  while  over 
the  rest  of  the  earth  there  is  no 
eclipse. 

A  lunar  eclipse  occurs  when  the 
moon,  in  the  course  of  her  revolution, 
passes  through  the  shadow  cast  by 
the  earth,  and  is  thus  temporarily 


436 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


deprived  of  sunlight.  If  the  moon 
is  completely  immersed  in  the 
shadow  the  eclipse  is  total;  if  only 
partly  immersed,  it  is  partial.  A 
lunar  eclipse,  unlike  a  solar  eclipse, 
is  always  visible  to  the  entire  hemi- 
sphere of  the  earth  turned  moon- 
ward  at  the  time. 

Mercury  and  Venus  are  called 
"inferior"  planets,  because  their 
orbits  lie  within  that  of  the  earth. 
As  viewed  from  the  earth  they  seem 
to  oscillate  from  one  side  of  the 
sun  to  the  other;  now  appearing  in 
the  western  sky  after  sunset,  and 
now  in  the  eastern  sky  before  sun- 
rise. Mercury's  apparent  position  in 
the  sky  is  never  very  far  from  that 
of  the  sun,  and  hence  this  planet  is 
never  above  the  horizon  long  enough 
after  sunset  or  before  sunrise  to  be 
conspicuous.  Venus  moves  consider- 
ably farther  from  the  sun,  and  at 
such  times  becomes  a  magnificent 
object,  much  brighter  than  any  other 
planet  or  fixed  star.  It  is  probable, 
though  not  certain,  that  Mercury  and 
Venus  always  keep  the  same  faces 
turned  toward  the  sun,  just  as  the 
moon  does  toward  the  earth.  If  so, 
scorching  heat  must  prevail  perpetu- 
ally in  one  hemisphere  of  each 
planet,  while  intense  cold  reigns  in 
the  other.  Mercury  appears  to  have 
little  or  no  atmosphere;  but  Venus 
gives  unmistakable  evidence  of  pos- 
sessing one,  and  also  clouds.  As  to 
permanent  surface  markings  on 
these  planets  astronomers  are  not  in 
agreement. 

The  "superior"  planets,  i.  e.,  the 
planets  whose  orbits  are  outside  that 
of  the  earth,  sometimes  lie  in  the 
same  direction  from  the  earth  as  the 
sun,  when  they  are  said  to  be  in 
"conjunction"  with  that  luminary, 
and  are  invisible;  sometimes  in  the 
opposite  direction,  when  they  are 
said  to  be  in  "opposition,"  and  shine 
through  the  night,  rising  about  sun- 
set and  setting  about  sunrise.  Posi- 
tions midway  between  conjunction 
and  opposition  are  known  as  "quad- 
rature." 

Mars,    when    at    opposition,    and 


therefore  nearest  the  earth,  is  an 
object  of  great  interest  on  account 
of  the  many  details  of  its  surface 
that  can  then  be  seen  through  pow- 
erful telescopes,  under  favorable  at- 
mospheric conditions.  These  mark- 
ings show  that  the  planet  rotates 
on  its  axis  once  in  about  twenty-four 
and  one-half  hours;  hence  its  "day" 
is  a  little  longer  than  the  earth's. 
Near  the  planet's  poles  are  two  white 
patches,  the  "polar  caps,"  which  be- 
have as  if  made  of  snow  or  ice, 
varying  in  size  with  the  Martian 
seasons.  The  rest  of  the  surface  is 
mottled  with  grayish  green  and  yel- 
lowish areas,  and  shows  a  number 
of  dark  lines  and  spots  that  have 
been  variously  reported  and  inter- 
preted by  different  observers.  Among 
these  are  the  so-called  "canals,"  de- 
scribed as  radiating  and  intersecting 
lines  of  such  geometrical  regularity 
as  to  suggest  an  artificial  origin. 
Many  double  or  twin  canals  have 
also  been  reported.  One  hypothesis 
in  regard  to  these  lines  is  that  they 
are  irrigation  channels,  fringed  with 
vegetation.  This  implies,  of  course, 
the  present  or  former  existence  of 
intelligent  beings  on  Mars.  Some 
astronomers,  however,  consider  the 
canals  a  mere  optical  illusion,  due 
to  the  tendency  of  the  eye  to  join 
up  by  lines  any  aggregation  of  small 
or  faint  markings. 

Beyond  the  orbit  of  Mars  lie  the 
asteroids,  or  minor  planets,  of  which 
several  hundred  are  known,  while 
many  new  ones  are  discovered  ev- 
ery year.  The  largest  of  these  bod- 
ies is  barely  500  miles  in  diameter, 
and  most  of  them  are  very  much 
smaller. 

Next  in  order  comes  the  giant 
planet  Jupiter,  one-tenth  as  great  in 
diameter  as  the  sun,  around  which 
it  revolves  in  a  period  of  nearly 
twelve  years.  Jupiter  turns  on  its 
axis  once  in  about  ten  hours ;  faster 
than  any  other  planet.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  sun,  we  see  little  if  any 
of  its  real  surface,  but  only  a  dense 
layer  of  clouds  in  which  it  is  en- 
veloped. These  clouds  assume  belt- 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


437 


like  forms,  visible  even  in  a  small 
telescope.  The  planet  itself  is  be- 
lieved to  be  in  a  fluid  or  semi-fluid 
condition,  and  intensely  hot,  though 
hardly  hot  enough  to  be  luminous. 
Jupiter  is  the  second  brightest  of 
the  planets,  and  much  brighter  than 
any  fixed  star. 

Saturn,  which  lies  next  beyond 
Jupiter,  is  unique  among  the  planets 
in  the  possession  of  a  system  of  flat 
and  very  thin  rings,  like  circular 
disks  of  paper  perforated  in  the 
middle.  According  to  the  position 
of  the  planet  with  respect  to  the 
earth  and  the  sun  the  rings  present 
very  different  appearances,  and  at 
times  disappear  altogether,  at  least 
in  ordinary  telescopes;  viz.,  when 
they  are  "edge  on"  to  us,  or  "edge 
on"  to  the  sun,  or,  again,  when 
they  turn  toward  us  the  side  on 
which  the  sun  is  not  shining.  At 
other  times  they  are  broadly  ellip- 
tical and  conspicuous  in  a  small 
telescope.  These  strange  appen- 
dages were  long  a  puzzle  to  the  as- 
tronomers, but  are  now  known  to  be 
made  up  of  innumerable  little  bodies, 
comparable  in  size  to  meteors,  re- 
volving around  the  planet.  Saturn 
exhibits*  cloud-belts,  like  those  of 
Jupiter,  though  less  distinct,  and  its 
structure  is  probably  similar  to 
Jupiter's. 

tlrapus  is  barely  visible  to  the 
naked  eye.  It  was  the  first  planet 
to  be  found  with  the  telescope,  hav- 
ing been  discovered  in  1781  by  Sir 
William  Herschel,  who  at  first  sup- 
posed it  to  be  a  comet.  All  the 
planets  with  which  men  were  then 
acquainted  had  been  known  from  an- 
tiquity, and  the  discovery  of  a  new 
one  created  a  great  stir.  Much  more 
remarkable,  however,  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view  was  the  discovery 
of  Neptune,  in  1846.  The  position 
of  this  planet  was  computed  before 
the  planet  itself  was  seen,  solely  on 
the  basis  of  irregularities  in  the 
movements  of  Uranus,  which  were 
evidently  due  to  the  disturbing  in- 
fluence of  another  and  undiscovered 
member  of  the  solar  system.  The 


computations  were  performed  inde- 
pendently by  Leverrier  in  France 
and  Adams  in  England,  and  the 
planet  was  found  by  the  astronom- 
ers at  the  Berlin  Observatory  at 
the  place  where  Leverrier  told  them 
to  look  for  it.  Neptune  is  invis- 
ible to  the  naked  eye.  Its  distance 
from  the  sun  is  2,791,000,000  miles, 
and  its  "year,"  i.  e.,  its  period 
of  revolution  around  the  sun,  is 
165  of  our  years.  It  has  there- 
fore not  made  half  a  circuit  since 
its  discovery,  in  the  days  of  our 
grandfathers. 

Comets,  once  objects  of  awe  and 
terror,  are  commonplace  to  the 
modern  astronomer,  who,  with  his 
telescope,  finds  half  a  dozen  new 
ones  every  year.  About  one-fifth  of 
these  become,  at  some  time  in  their 
history,  bright  enough  to  be  seen 
with  the  naked  eye.  While  many 
comets,  especially  the  fainter  ones, 
have  no  visible  "tails,"  a  few  have 
displayed  more  than  one  of  these 
appendages.  The  tail  is  always  di- 
rected away  from  the  sun,  and  often 
attains  a  stupendous  size ;  some  have 
been  more  than  100,000,000  miles  in 
length.  Most  astonishing  is  the  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  their  size,  comets 
are  always  excessively  light;  mere 
feathers  compared  with  any  of  the 
planets.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  they  do  not  produce  the  slight- 
est disturbance  in  the  movements  of 
planets  or  satellites  near  which  they 
pass,  though  their  own  movements 
are  greatly  modified  by  these  ap- 
proaches. Comets  are  self-luminous, 
but  their  brightness  is  doubtless 
increased  by  reflected  sunlight.  Many 
of  these  bodies  are  permanent  mem- 
bers of  our  system,  performing  their 
revolutions  around  the  sun  at  in- 
tervals of  a  few  or  many  years. 
Others,  so  far  as  we  know,  make 
this  circuit  only  once,  and  then 
dash  away  for  all  time  into  outer 
space. 

Meteors,  or  shooting  stars,  appear 
to  be  intimately  related  to  comets, 
and  may  be  produced,  at  least  in 
part,  by  the  distintegration  of  the 


438 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


latter.  These  bodies  only  become 
visible  to  us  when  they  pass  through 
our  atmosphere  and  are  made  Om- 
inous by  friction.  Millions  of  them 
enter  the  atmosphere  every  day. 
Most  of  these  are  probably  vaporized 
and  dissipated,  some  pass  on  into 
space,  and  some  reach  the  earth  as 
meteorites.  Vast  swarms  of  mete- 


ors appear  to  be  constantly  traveling 
in  regular  orbits  around  the  sun. 

The  "zodiacal  light,"  a  faint  glow 
extending  along  the  zodiac  in  both 
directions  from  the  sun,  and  best 
seen  in  our  latitudes  in  the  evenings 
of  February  and  March,  is  probably 
due  to  sunlight  reflected  from  a 
great  ring  of  meteors. 


CRATERS  ON  THE  MOON 

h.'  pSei 

formation  known   as   the    "Straight  Wall." 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


439 


THE  NORTHERN  HEAVENS 


The  maps  shown  on  the  following  pages 
represent  the  heavens  as  seen,  on  the  different 
dates  given,  from  stations  in  and  about  the 
latitude  of  New  York  (40°  N)  It  is  not  an 
easy  matter  to  recognize  the  stars  by  looking 
at  the  map.  A  certain  amount  of  study  is 
necessary :  for,  of  course,  the  different  stars  of 
a  constellation  are  not  linked  togetherby  lines 
as  they  are  in  the  map  and  furthermore  their 
magnitude  is  very  much  exaggerated.  The 
best  plan  for  the  novice  is  to  start  with  a  well 
known  constellation,  such  as  that  of  the 
Great  Bear.  The'  "Dipper"  which  is  a  part 
of  the  Great  Bear  is  so  conspicuous  a  group 
in  the  northern  skies  that  anyone  can  point 
it  out.  Knowing  the  Dipper,  the  Pole  Star 
may  readily  be  discovered  by  tracing  a  line 
from  ft  through  a  of  the  Dipper  ana  about 
five  times  as  far.  Around  the  Pole  Star 
(Polaris)  which  is  of  the  second  magnitude, 
the  entire  northern  heavens  appear  to  revolve 
once  a  day  Having  found  the  Pole  Star  the 
constellation  of  Cassiopeia  may  be  found  by- 
extending  a  line  from  e  of  the  Dipper  through 
the  Pole  Star  and  as  far  again  to  the  other 
side,  where  a  cluster  of  stars  in  the  form  of  a 
large  ragged  W  will  be  found.  If  we  run  a 
line  diagonally  from  a  of  the  Dipper  through 
y  and  about  eight  or  nine  tunes  as  far  again, 
we  shall  come  to  the  first  magnitude  star 
Spica,  in  the  constellation  of  the  Virgin, 
while  a  line  extended  from  a  through  ft  and 
about  eight  times  as  far  again  will  bring  us 
in  the  midst  of  the  constellation  of  the  Lion. 
At  the  eastern  end  of  this  constellation,  is 
the  second  magnitude  star  Denebola,  and 
the  distance  from  this  star  to  Spica  is  about 
the  same  as  that  from  Spica  to  Arcturus,  the 
first  magnitude  star  in  the  constellation  of 
Bootes.  Thus  we  may  proceed  building  up 
our  knowledge  of  various  groups  and  using 
these  groups  as  reference  points  to  find  new 
constellations. 

Contrary  to  custom  in  geographical  maps, 
our  jstar  maps  are  drawn  with  the  east  on  the 
lefthand  side  and  the  west  on  the  righthand 


THE  "DIPPER"  AS  AN  INDEX  TO  THE 

HEAVENS. 

side,  while  north  is  at  the  top  of  the  page  and 
south  at  the  bottom.  This  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  heavens  are  viewed  looking  upward, 
while  the  geographical  map  is  viewed  looking 
downward.  In  locating  stars  and  con- 
stellations, it  is  best  toliold  the  map  over- 
head when  the  actual  poirtfcs  of  the  compass 
and  those  marked  on  the  map  will  bear  the 
true  relation  to  each  other. 


NIGHT  SKY:  JANUARY  AND  FEBRUARY 


If  one  views  the  heavens  on  the  hours 
specified  under  our  map  of  January,  he  will 
find  almost  directly  overhead  a  bright  star 
with  a  triangle  of  lesser  stars  beside  it.  The 
bright  star  is  Capella  or  the  Little  She  Goat 
which  is  held  on  the  arm  of  Auriga,  the 
Charioteer,  whose  left  hand  is  represented  by 
the  triangle  of  stars,  >),  e,  <T.  The  constellation 
bears  no  resemblance  whatever  to  a  charioteer 
or  a  goat.  In  fact,  very  few  constellations 
bear  any  resemblance  to  the  objects  the 
ancients  supposed  them  to  represent.  Half- 
way between  Capella  and  the  southern  horizon 
are  the  three  bright  stars  forming  the  belt  of 
Orion:  They  are  indicated  in  the  map  f,  «,  fi. 
and  they  are  centered  in  the  square  formed 
by  the  stars,  Betelgeux,  Bellatrix,  Rigel  and 
the  star  noted  by  the  letter  K.  The  little 
triangle  of  stars  at  A.  mark  the  head  of  Orion, 
while  the  line  of  faint  stars  at  IT  represents  a 
lion  skin  that  Orion  is  holding  forth  towards 
the  constellation  of  Taurus,  the  Bull  The 
principal  star  of  "this  constellation  is  Alde- 
baran,  a  bright  red  star,  marking  the  left  eye 


of  the  bull,  while  his  two  horns  are  indicated 
by  the  stars  ft  and  &  The  star  e  is  at  the 
nght  eye  of  the  bull,  and  y  at  his  nose.  They 
form  with  Aldebaran  a  triangle  that  is  easily 
recognizable.  A  little  to  the  west  of  this 
group- is  the  interesting  star  cluster  of  the 
Pleiades.  In  this  cluster,  there  are  six  stars 
easily  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  many  can 
see  seven  stars,  while  observers  with  ex- 
ceptionally good  eyesight  have  been  able  to 
see  as  many  as  fourteen  stars.  A  small  spy- 
glass will  reveal  large  'numbers. 

The  stars  forming  the  belt  of  Orion  point 
in-the  general  direction  of  the  first  magnitude 
star  Sirius  in  the  constellation  of  Canis  Major, 
the  Great  Dog.  Sirius  is  by  far  the  brightest 
object  in  the  heavens  if  we  exclude  the  sun, 
moon  and  planets.  It  is  one  of  the  nearest 
suns  outside  our  solar  system,  yet  it  is  so  far 
off  that  it  takes  nearly  nine  years  for  its  light 
to  reach  us.  The  diameter  of  Sirius  is  about 
twenty  tunes  that  of  the  sun  and  its  volume 
is  about  seven  thousand  times  greater.  In 
the  constellation  of  Canis  Major  there  are 


440 


CUB    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


At  it     o'clock:  Jan.    y 
"  10:30  14 

"  10  "        "     22 


At 


At  9:30  o'clock:  January  29 


9     o'clock:  Feb.     6 
8:30  14 

8  "         "      21 


NIGHT  SKY:  JANUARY  AND  FEBRUARY. 


two  other  first  magnitude  stars,  but  Sirius  so 
far  outshines  them  that  they  look  no  brighter 
than  second  magnitude  stars.  If  we  follow 
the  line  from  Aldebaran  eastward  bey9nd  £ 
we  come  tD  the  constellation  of  Gemini,  the 
Twins,  marked  by  the  two  bright  stars. 
Castor  and  Pollux;  while  south  of  this  con- 
stellation is  the  first  magnitude  star  Procyon 
•ia  the  constellation  of  Canis  Minor,  the  Little 
Dog.  It  will  be  noticed  that  most  of  the 
constellations  so  far  referred  to  lie  adjacent  to 
the  Milky  Way.  If  we  follow  the  Galaxy 
northward,  we  find  just  beyond  the  con- 
stellation of  Auriga,  the  constellation  of 
Perseus,  whose  most  interestingstar  is  marked 
p  and  ia  known  as  Algol,  the  Demon  Star  or 
the  Winking  Demon.  Every  two  days, 


twenty  hours  and  forty-nine  minutes,  this 
star  begins  to  fade  until,  in  the  course  of  three 
or  four  hours,-  it  loses  four-nfths^of  its  light. 
Then  it  begins  to  become  brighter  until 
eventually,  after  three  or  four  hours  more, 
it  reaches  its  normal  brilliancy.  The  star 
marks  the  head  of  Medusa,  which,  according 
to  the  Greek  legend  Perseus  was  carrying 
when  he  came  across  Andromeda  chained  to 
the  rock.  Further  north  along  the  Milky 
Way  we  come  to  Cassiopeia. 

In  the  northeast  is  the  great  dipper  forming 
part  of  Ursa  Major,  the  Great  Bear;  far  in 
the  east  is  the  constellation  of  Leo,  the  Lion, 
in  which  are  the  prominent  stars  Regulus, 
Denebola.  The  curved  lins  of  stars  ending 
with  Regulus  is  known  as  the  Sickle. 


(The  Star  Maps  are  all  copyrighted  by  Munn  &  Co.,  Inc.) 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


441 


n       o'clock  Mar. 

10:30 

10  "          " 


At  9:30  o'clock:  March  30 


NIGHT  SKY:  MARCH  AND  APRIL. 


Our  map  for  March  and  April  shows  most 
of  the  constellations  along  the  Milky  Way 
low  in  the  western  sky.  The  great  dipper  is 
well  up  near  the  zenith  with  its  pointer  stars 
0  and  a  indicating  the  position  of  the  Pole  Star, 
Polaris.  Oddly  enough  the  ancients  repre- 
sented the  great  bear  as  having  a  long  tail, 
indicated  by  the  stars  e,  f,  i\.  These  are  the 
only  stars  that  follow  the  outline  of  the  beast. 
The  star  o  is  at  the  bear's  mouth,  while  the 
stars  «,  i,  and  M,  *,  and  v,  £  represent  three 
of  his  feet.  The  star  £  is  interesting  because  it 
has  a  small  companion,  called  by  tbe  Arabs 
"  Alcor."  A  little  to  the  south  of  the  zenith 
is  the  constellation  of  Leo,  referred  to  in  the 


previous  paragraph.  Below  Leo  are  two 
small  groups  known  as  Corvus,  the  Crow,  and 
Crater,  the  Cup.  They  are  not  very  con- 
spicuous; neither  is  Hydra,  the  Sea  Serpent, 
which  stretches  its  long  length  across  the 
southern  sky.  Its  brightest  star  is  Alphard 
which  is  of  the  second  magnitude.  Above 
the  head  of  the  serpent  is  the  inconspicuous 
constellation  of  Cancer,  the  Crab.  An 
interesting  feature  of  this,  constellation  is  a 
faint  star  cluster,  just  visible  to  the  naked  eye 
and  marked  on  the  map  Praesepe,  the 
"Beehive."  In  the  telescdpe  this  is  seen 
to  be  made  up  of  a  myriad  of  small  bright 
stars. 


442 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


At  ii      o'clock:  May 
"    10:30      "        "       15 

"     10  "  "         22 


At  9:30  o'clock:  May  30 
THE  NIGHT  SKY  OF  MAY  AND  JUNE. 


o'clock:  June  7 
"  "  :4 
"  "  22 


The  constellation  nearest  the  zenith  in 
May  and  June  is  that  of  Bootes,  or  the 
Herdsman.  A  bright  red  star,  Arcturus,  may 
be  found  in  this  constellation.  It  is  known 
as  the  Wandering  Star  for  the  reason  that  it 
is  slowly  drifting  with  respect  to  the  other 
stars  in  the  Heavens.  Since  the  time  of 
Christ  it  has  moved  in  a  southwesterly 
direction,  fully  one  degree,  or  through  a 
distance  equal  to  twice  the  diameter  of  the 
moon.  Its  yearly  displacement  is  two 
seconds  of  arc.  South  of  Bootes  is  the  con- 
stellation of  Virgo,  whose  brightest  star  is 
Spica.  t  Between  Virgo  and  Ursa  Major  are 
two  faint  constellations  known  as  Coma 
Berenices,  Berenice's  Hair,  ami  Canes 
Venatici,  thd  Hunting  Dogs.  Close  to  the 
southern  horizon  is  the  constellation  of 
Centaurus.  the  Centaur.  Not  very  much  of 


this  constellation  can  be  seen  from  our 
latitude.  Its  brightest  stars  lie  below  the 
horizon.  They  include  «  Centauri,  the 
nearest  body  outside  the  solar  system.  This 
star  is  only  255,000  times  as  far  from  us  as  we 
are  from  the  sun.  It  takes  its  light  44  years 
to  come  to  us.  In  the  southeast,  .low  down 
near  the  horizon  may  be  seen  the  constella- 
tion of  Scorpio,  the  Scorpion.  This  con- 
stellation is  made  up  of  a  very  easily  recog- 
nizable group  of  stars.  It  contains  the 
brilliant  first  magnitude  star,  Antares,  at 
each  side  of  which  are  the  lesser  stars  <r  and  r. 
A  line  of  stars  traces  the  form  of  the  Scorpion 
as  shown  to  better  advantage  in  the  next 
map.  The  Scorpion  embraces  in  its  claws 
the  constellation  Libra,  or  the  Scales.  In 
the  north  above  the  Polar  Star,  we  may  see 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


443 


the  body  of  the  Little  Bear,  Ursa  Minor. 
Most  of  the  stars  of  this  constellation  are  faint 
with  the  exception  of  Polaris  and  two  stars 
ft  and  Y  which  have  been  called  the  guards. 
Between  Ursa  Minor  and  the  Zenith,  the 
constellation  Draco,  or  the  Dragon,  twines  its 


long  form.  The  stars  y,  /3  and  |  rtark  the 
head  of  the  dragon.  To  the  eastward  of  the 
constellation  Bootes  is  a  partial  ring  of  stars 
known  as  Corona,  or  the  Crown.  This  is  one 
of  the  few  groups  actually  outlining  the 
object  it  is  supposed  to  represent. 


At  9:30  o'clock:  July  30 
NIGHT  SKY:  JULY  AND  AUGUST. 


At  9     o'clock:  Aug.     7 
"    8:30  14 

"     8  "          "        24 


The  Zenith  constellation  for  July  and 
August  is  Lyra,  the  Lyre,  with  its  bright  blue- 
white  star,  Vega,  nearly  directly  overhead. 
Just  west  of  the  Zenith  is  the  constellation 
Haroules  whose  stars  form  a  ragged-looking  H. 
Bebw  this  constellation  is  Ophiuchus  who 
nvt  in  his  grasp  the  constellation  Serpens  or 
fie  Serpent.  Low  down  in  the  south  the 
constellation  of  Scorpio  has  dragged  its  full 
length  above  the  horizon  and  it  is  easy  to 
trace  its  body  and  tail  ending  with  the  stars 


A.  and  v.  The  ppposite  side  of  the  Milky  Way 
now  stretches  its  length  across  the  sky,  con- 
taining in  its  extent  many  brilliant  con- 
stellations. Just  east  of  Scorpio  is  the 
constellation'  of  Sagittarius,,  the  Archer. 
Well  up  in  the  southeast  is  the  star  Altair  cf 
the  constellation  Aquila,  the  Eagle,  and 
just  above  Altair  is  the  tinv  constellation, 
Sagitta  or  the  Arrow.  To  the  east  may  be 
seen  Delphinus,  the  Dolphin.while  to  the  east  ot 
Lyra  is  the  constellation  of  Cygnus,  tlie  Swan, 


444 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


At  ir     o'clock;  Sept.     6 
;;    10:30  "        ,4 


At 


9     o'clock:  June     7 
8:30  14 

8  "         "        22 


At  9:30   o'clock:    September   29 


NIGHT  SKY:  SEPTEMBER  AND  OCTOBER. 


Our  map  for  these  two,  months  shows  no 
constellation  immediately  overhead.  Half- 
way between  the  Zenith  and  the  Pole  Star 


magnitude.  The  Milky'  Way  now  stretches 
overhead  and  makes  a  beautiful  sight  on  a 
moonless  ni<?ht.  About  thirtv  degrees  south 
of  the  Zenith  is  the  constellation  Pegasus. 
Its  three  stars,  y,  a,  and  ft  form  with  the  star  a 
of  the  constellation  Andromeda,  a  large  square 


known  as  the  "Square  of  Pegasus."  Below 
the  constellation  Pegasus  is  that  of  Aquarius, 
the  Water  Bearer,  while  to  the  southwest  is 
the  zodiacal  constellation  9f  Capricornus.  the 
Sea  Goat.  This  constellation  is  marked  by  a 
very  pretty  naked  eye  double  at  a.  The 
most  conspicuous  star  in  the  south  is  Fomal- 
haut,  of  the  Southern  Fish.  This  brilliant 
star  can  hardly  be  appreciated  in  northern 
latitudes  because  it  is  not  very  favorably 
placed  for  observation.  Below  Fomalhaut  is  a 
bright  little  group  known  as  Grus,  the  Crane. 


THE    HEAVENS    ABOVE 


445 


9     o'clock:  Dec.     7 
8:30  15 

3  "         "       23 


At   9:30   o'clock:    November   30 


NIGHT  SKY:  NOVEMBER  AND  DECEMBER. 


Running  westward  from  the  zenith  stretches 
the  constellation  of  Andromeda,  the  chained 
lady  who.  was  rescued  by  Perseus.  In  this 
constellation  may  be  seen  a  faint  nebula  which 
in  a  telescope  as  shown  to  cover  an  enormous 
extent,  a  .great  whirl  of  nebulous  material 
Probably  it  represents  a  star  in  the  making. 
The  great  square  of  Pegasus  lies  just  to  the 
south  of  the  zenith.  The  southern  sky  is 
filled  by  the  constellation  of  Cetus,  the  Whale. 
The  most  interesting  star  in  this  group  is  that 
of  Mira.  which  on  the  average  of  once  in 


eleven  months,  blazes  forth  with  a  brilliance, 
sometimes  exceeding  the  second  magnitude 
Generally,  however,  it  does  not  exceed  the 
third  magnitude,  while  its  normal  brightness 
is  such  that  it  is  barely  visible  to  the  naked 
eye.  Between  Cetus  and  the  zenith  are  three 
small  constellations,  t.  e.,  Pisces,  the  Fishes. 
Aries,  the  Ram.  and  Triangulus,  the  Triangle. 
In  the  southeast  sky  is  the  wandering  n  ver,  En- 
danus,  while  the  eastern  sky  is  filled  with  bril- 
liant winter  constellations  described  in  the 
paragraph  on  the  January , and  February  map 


Commission        f*18"*1 

HwaTsT-  2<f?  Tr«<fe        Reserve 

RaprsasHativeii  ^I"          6*?ftl 


WHEN  TJNCLE   SAM'S  WHISTLE  BLOWS 

The  total  number  of  persons  in  the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial  services  of  the  Federal 

Government    on    July    1,    1915,    was    approximately    488,711.      The    total    number    of 

officers  and  enlisted  men  in  the  Army,  Navy  and  Marine  Corps  is  172,618 


PART  III. 
UNCLE  SAM'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER  I. 
WASHINGTON— THE  NATION'S  CITY 


YOUR  city  is  the  most  beautiful 
capital    in    the    world.      There 
are  those  who  sing  the  praises 
of    London,    Paris,    Vienna,    Berlin, 
Rome,     Petrograd,     and     all     have 
claims   well   substantiated.     But  in 
plan,    architectural    beauty,    embel- 
lishment,    cleanliness,     convenience, 
absence  of  poverty,  spaciousness,  in^ 
terest,  educational  facilities — in  all 


resentation  in  the  taxing  body,  gov- 
erned without  their  consent,  and 
made  to  stand  by  and  look  on  at 
the  spending  of  their  money  without 
a  word  to  say  (officially)  as  to  how 
it  shall  be  spent.  And — strange 
though  it  seems  in  American  eyes — 
this  plan  of  the  National  City  being 
taxed  and  governed  by  the  National 
Government  has  resulted  in  the 


THE   GATEWAY— WASHINGTON'S   MAGNIFICENT   UNION   STATION 


that  makes  a  city  noted  above  other 
cities,  Washington,  the  Nation's  City 
as  well  as  the  Nation's  Capital, 
stands  unique  and  unapproachable. 
Most  American  of  all  cities,  since 
it  is  owned  by  the  Nation's  Govern- 
ment, it  is  not  less  patriotic  that  it 
is  the  one  spot  in  all  free  America 
where  people  are  taxed  without  rep- 


wonderful     municipality     which     is 
peerless  among  all  cities. 

A  Mecca  for  the  sight-seeing  tour- 
ist, Washington  is  still  more  a  meet- 
ing place  for  those  who  pursue 
knowledge,  for  no  spot  on  earth 
holds  so  much  of  learning  for  those 
who  know  how  to  dig  it  out.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  in  Wash- 


copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Inc. 


448 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ington  is  the  answer  to  any  answer- 
able question — and  some  which  have 
no  answers,  too ! 

Considered  as  a  municipality,  en- 
tirely apart  from  governmental  ac- 
tivities, Washington  can  hold  up  its 
head  among  the  best.  In  streets, 
parks,  and  shade  trees,  in  recrea- 
tion centers,  police,  fire  and  school 
systems,  in  privileges  and  pleasures, 
Washington  is  behind  none  of  its 
size  and  ahead  of  many  larger  cities. 
It  has  a  minimum  amount  of  crime, 
a  comparatively  small  indigent  and 
poverty-struck  population,  no  for- 
eign quarters,  a  climate  which  suf- 


President  and  confirmed  by  the  Sen- 
ate, act  as  a  combined  Mayor  and 
City  Council  for  the  District  of 
Columbia's  seventy  square  miles  of 
territory,  having  charge  of  all  de- 
partments of  the  local  government. 
Washington  is  taxed  as  other  muni- 
cipalities are  taxed,  but  the  money 
is  spent  by  Congress,  which  adds  a 
sum  sufficient  to  make  that  raised 
by  taxation  exactly  half  of  the  total 
appropriated  for  any  one  year.  In 
return  for  this  "half-and-half  prin- 
ciple" as  it  is  known,  all  Govern- 
ment property — and  the  Government, 
of  course,  owns  the  most  valuable 


PANORAMA    OF    WASHINGTON 


fers  more  from  ill-repute  than  Wash- 
ingtonians  do  from  its  warm  sum- 
mers, a  just  and  liberal  Government, 
no  graft,  party  politics  or  factional 
fights,  and,  because  it  lives  in  and 
among  the  greatest  law-making  body 
in  the  world,  a  better  comprehension 
of  national  problems  than  is  pos- 
sible elsewhere. 

CITY   GOVERNMENT 

Three  commissioners,  one  of  whom 
must  be  a  major  in  the  Army  En- 
gineering Corps,  appointed  by  the 


land  and  buildings  in  the  city — is 
free  of  taxation.  The  result  of  a 
wise  and  liberal  policy  of  city  im- 
provement has  been  the  making  of 
a  municipality  with  more  shade 
trees  in  proportion  to  its  population 
(95,000  trees)  than  any  other  in  the 
world,  a  city  with  a  greater  per- 
centage of  paved  streets  per  popu- 
lation than  any  other  in  the  world, 
a  city  with  wider  streets,  straighter 
streets,  cleaner  streets  than  any 
other  in  the  world,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  parking  system  which 


WASHINGTON— THE    NATION'S    CITY 


449 


will,  when  completed,  be  the  eighth 
wonder  of  the  world  for  beauty,  size 
and  variety. 

THE     CITY     PLAN 

The  original  plan  of  the  city  con- 
templated its  growth  in  an  easterly 
direction  across  the  plateau  which 
forms  the  top  of  Capitol  Hill,  on 
the  summit  of  which  stands  the 
United  States  Capitol. 

The  city  perversely  grew  the  oth- 
er way,  so  that  the  wealthy  resi- 
dence and  all  the  business  section, 


streets  are  numbered,  those  running 
east  and  west  are  lettered.  The 
avenues,  named  for  states  in  the 
Union,  all  run  at  various  angles. 

The  city  is  divided  into  four  sec- 
tions— Northwest,  Northeast,  South- 
west, and  Southeast,  the  division 
lines  being  North,  East  and  South 
Capitol  Streets,  and  ap  imaginary 
line  running  through  the  park 
known  as  the  Mall,  which  would  be 
West  Capitol  Street  if  it  existed. 

Criss-crossing  these  streets,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  eight  spokes  of  ave- 


THE   HEART   OF   THE   NATION 


and  practically  all  the  Government 
buildings  and  activities,  are  west  of 
and  therefore  to  the  rear  of,  the 
Capitol.  Luckily,  the  rear  elevation 
of  the  Capitol  is  as  beautiful  as  its 
actual  front 

From  both  the  Capitol  and  the 
White  House  radiate  four  great  ave- 
nues, distinguished  from  other 
streets  by  running  at  an  angle  with 
the  gridiron  which  forms  the  city. 
Washington's  tforth  and  south 


nues  radiating  from  the  Capitol  and 
White  House,  are  other  slanting  ar- 
teries of  travel,  confusing  to  the  vis- 
itor, but  making  every  part  of  the 
city  quickly  accessible  from  every 
other  part  to  those  who  know  how  to 
take  advantage  of  those  hypoth- 
enuses  of  triangles.  At  junction 
points  of  lettered  and  numbered 
streets  and  avenues  are  parks,  cir- 
cles, or  statues,  productive  of  those 
vistas  and  beauty  spots  which  have 


450 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


given   the   city   the   "pet   name"   of 
"City    of   Magnificent   Distances." 

PARKING     SYSTEM 

Five  great  parks  of  many  acres, 
twenty-six  of  more  than  one  acre 
and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
smaller  ones  (not  including  the 
great  military  reservation  at  Fort 
Myer,  Virginia,  just  across  the  river, 
and  connected  by  a  bridge  with  the 
Speedway),  constitute  a  parking  sys- 


and  Lincoln  Memorial  (not  yet  com- 
pleted). The  Mall  gives  way  to  the 
Speedway,  a  river  park  made  from 
reclaimed  land,  wrhere  there  is  swim- 
ming and  boating  and  baseball,  golf, 
tennis,  polo  and  cricket  grounds  are 
to  be  found,  band  concerts  occur  and 
thousands  of  pedestrians,  motorists, 
horseback  riders  and  drivers  have 
a  place  close  to  the  heart  of  the 
city  in  which  to  enjoy  their  favorite 
recreations. 


WHERE  AN  INAUGURATION   IS   HELD,    AND   THE  PROCESSION 


tern  which  has  no  equal  in  the  world. 
Splitting  the  heart  of  the  city  east 
and  west  from  Capitol  Hill  to  the 
Potomac  River  is  the  Mall,  a  wide 
park  on  which  are  located  (men- 
tioned in  order  from  the  Capitol,  go- 
ing west)  the  Bontanical  Gardens, 
the  Fish  Commission,  Medical  Mu- 
seum, old  National  Museum,  new 
National  Museum,  Smithsonian 
Building,  old  Department  of  Agri- 
culture Building,  two  wings  of  the 
new  Department  of  Agriculture 
Building,  Washington  Monument, 


North  of  the  Northwest  Section  is 
the  National  Zoo,  where  nearly  1,500 
animals  of  all  sorts  have  comfortable 
and  beautiful  homes,  in  many  cases 
in  natural  surroundings.  Connected 
to  the  Zoo  is  the  National  Park,  a 
reservation  devoted  entirely  to  nat- 
ural recreation.  Far-seeing  states- 
men recognize  the  need  of  all  cities 
for  ample  parking  space,  and  beauti- 
ful Rock  Creek  Valley  has  been  pre- 
served for  all  time  to  the  Nation, 
nothing  being  done  to  it  but  the  pro- 
viding of  miles  on  miles  of  velvet 


WASHINGTON— THE    NATION'S    CITY 


451 


roads  and  necessary  bridges  and 
fords.  The  combined  area  of  Zoo 
and  National  Park  is  1,776  acres. 

North  of  the  Capitol  and  east 
from  the  National  Park  lies  Soldiers' 
Home  Park,  a  beautiful  hilly  coun- 
try with  many  fine  roads,  where  the 
Nation  maintains  a  magnificent 
home  for  its  disabled  soldiers. 

Plans  now  under  way  contemplate 
the  connection  of  Zoo  and  National 
Parks  with  the  Speedway  and  Mall, 
by  driveways  along  the  unimproved 


WASHINGTON     MONUMENT,     WASHING- 
TON,    D,    C, 


part  of  Rock  Creek  Valley,  a  plan 
which,  when  complete,  will  enable 
a  motorist  to  drive  for  five  or  six 
hours  without  going  over  the  same 
road  twice,  or  even  running  on  a 
city  street,  and  yet  be  at  no  time 
more  than  a  few  miles  from  the 
center  of  the  Nation — the  United 
States  Capitol. 


GOVERNMENT  BUILDINGS 

They  are  so  numerous  that  a  com- 
plete catalogue  would  be  wearisome. 
The  visitor  usually  makes  first  for 
the  Capitol,  on  Capitol  Hill,  where 
he  also  finds  the  indescribably  won- 
derful Library  of  Congress,  the  two 
huge  office  buildings  devoted  to  the 
use  of  Senators  and  Representatives, 
the  Union  Station — second  to  none 
in  the  world  in  beauty,  and  with  a 
concourse  capable  of  housing  the  en- 
tire standing  army  of  the  United 
States — all  in  an  extension  of  the 
Mall. 

The  buildings  on  the  Mall  have 
been  mentioned ;  in  addition,  just  off 
the  Mall  and  giving  on  the  Speedway 
is  the  new  Bureau  of  Engraving 
and  Printing,  the  largest  plant  of  its 
kind  in  the  world. 

The  White  House,  or  Executive 
Mansion,  stands  between  the  Treas- 
ury and  State,  War  and  Navy  De- 
partment Buildings,  fronting  on 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  and  giving  to 
the  rear  on  the  "Ellipse,"  a  part  of 
the  Mall. 

In  the  heart  of  the  city  are  the 
Post  Office,  Pension  Office,  Land 
Office  and  Patent  Office  buildings 
(this  latter  the  office  also  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior)  and  scat- 
tered everywhere  are  related 
branches  of  the  several  departments. 
On  the  outskirts  of  the  city  are  the 
United  States  Naval  Observatory, 
where,  among  other  things,  is  the 
great  26-inch  refractor  with  which 
the  moons  of  Mars  were  first  seen, 
the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and  fur- 
ther out,  the  first  settling  reservoirs 
of  Washington's  wonderful  water 
supply  system,  which  includes  a  fil- 
tration plant  which  provides  crystal 
water  regardless  of  the  mud  which 
may  be  in  the  Potomac. 

All  Government  buildings  may  be 
visited  by  visitors  prior  to  two 
o'clock,  and  no  charge  is  made  any- 
where. 

Any  official  in  the  Government, 
from  the  President  down,  may  be 
seen  by  any  one  with  legitimate  bus- 
iness, and  every  facility  is  put  at 


452 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


the  disposal  of  him  who  seeks  in- 
formation by  every  department  of 
the  Government,  with  the  exception 
of  those  necessarily  restricted  by 
their  very  nature — such  as  Army 
and  Navy  and  Secret  Service. 

There  are  many  buildings,  bureaus 
and  activities  which  are  wholly  or 
partly  separated  from  the  Govern- 
ment. The  National  Geographic  So- 
ciety, the  City  Library,  the  Volta 
Bureau,  the  Bureau  of  American  Re- 
publics, the  stupendous  Scottish 
Rite  House  of  the  Temple,  the  hos- 


non,  Washington's  Home,  Annapo- 
lis, where  they  turn  out  Naval  of- 
ficers, Great  Falls,  wild  and  rugged 
in  beauty,  source  of  the  city  water 
supply  and  historic  in  that  George 
Washington  dug  a  canal  around 
them,  the  remains  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen,  beautiful  Harper's  Ferry, 
historic  in  Civil  war  days  and  mag- 
nificent in  scenic  beauty,  Baltimore, 
forty  miles  distant  by  road  or  rail, 
Alexandria,  Arlington  (home  of  the 
Lees,  and  now  the  National  Burying 
Ground)  are  all  within  an  hour  and 


Photo   Harris   &  Ewing 
THE 


'OPEN    DOOR"    AT    THE    WHITE    HOUSE 


pitals,  schools,  colleges,  universities, 
private  laboratories,  Carnegie  Insti- 
tute, etc.,  all  add  to  the  educational 
possibilities  of  the  city. 

A  dozen  or  more  interesting  lo- 
calities surround  the  Nation's  City. 
The  Navy  Yard,  where  the  big  guns 
are  made,  the  Arsenal  Grounds, 
with  the  War  College,  St.  Elizabeth, 
the  home  of  the  Nation's  insane, 
Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb,  Continental  Hall  (D.  A. 
R.),  Corcoran  Art  Gallery,  Mt.  Ver- 


a  half  of  the  Capitol,  some  within 
a  few  minutes'  travel,  while  Nor- 
folk and  the  Newport  News  ship- 
yards are  but  a  night's  boat  ride 
away. 

Visitors  not  infrequently  ask  the 
length  of  time  necessary  properly  to 
see  the  Nation's  City.  The  resident, 
who  knows,  usually  answers,  "Not 
less  than  a  year,"  and  there  is  truth 
in  the  statement. 

Indeed,  those  who  are  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  great  national  col- 


WASHINGTON— THE    NATION'S    CITY 


45,3 


SCOTTISH   RITE    TEMPLE    AT    NIGHT 

lections  say  that  a  year  is  hardly 
enough  really  to  see,  let  alone  study, 
the  wonders  of  either  the  Museum 
or  the  Library  of  Congress. 

So  to  those  who  may  find  in  this 
brief  sketch  or  the  pictures  which 
accompany  it,  any  impetus  to  visit 
that  city  which  is  most  truly  Ameri- 
can, and  which  belongs  in  part  to 
every  American,  it  is  said,  "Stay  as 
long  as  you  can  and  do  not  think 
that  a  visit  to  every  Government 
building  in  Washington,  which  could 
not  possibly  be  accomplished  in  a 
week,  means  that  you  have  really 
seen  the  treasures  which  are  yours. 
For  Washington,  belonging  to  the  Na- 
tion, is  its  treasure  house,  and  col- 
lected, kept,  and  made  accessible 
here  are  such  treasures  of  age,  of 
curiosity,  of  interest,  of  educational 
value,  of  patriotic  association,  of 


real  Americanism,  as  will  require 
more  time  to  see  and  appreciate 
than  any  have  time  to  give — which 
fact  is  in  itself  one  of  the  many 
things  which  makes  the  Nation's 


THE  STATUE  TO  DAGTJERRE 

City  an  inspiration  and  an  example 
of  all  that  is  best  in  the  ideals  which 
make  the  United  States  "one  na- 
tion indissoluble." 


THE  CORCORAN  ART  GALLERY 


o 

II 


11 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE   LEGISLATIVE   HALLS 

THE  HEART  OF  THE  NATION 


THE     United      States     Capitol 
Building   is    the   political   and 
sentimental      center      of      the 
United     States,     however     far     re- 
moved   it    may    be    from    the    geo- 
graphic center. 

Fronting  east,  it  stands  on  a  pla- 


Aquia  Creek,  Va.,  was  laid  with 
Masonic  ceremonies  September  18, 
1793,  by  President  Washington.  The 
original  designs  were  prepared  by 
Dr.  William  Thornton,  and  the  work 
was  done  under  the  direction  of 
Stephen  H.  Hallet,  James  Hoban, 


Photo  by  Harris  &  Ewing 


THE    CAPITOL    AT    WASHINGTON 


teau  88  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Potomac,  situated  in  latitude  38°  53' 
20.4"  north  and  longitude  77°  DO' 
35.7"  west  from  Greenwich. 

The  southeast  cornerstone  of  the 
original  building,  constructed  of 
sandstone  taken  from  quarries  on 


George  Hadfield,  and  B.  H.  Latrobe, 
architects.  The  north  wing,  finished 
in  1800,  and  the  south  in  1811,  were 
then  connected  by  a  wooden  passage- 
way!  On  August  24,  1814,  the  in- 
terior of  both  wings  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  set  by  the  British.  But  the 


Copyright   by   Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


456 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


damage  was  immediately  repaired 
and  in  1818  the  central  part  of  the 
building  was  begun,  under  the  archi- 
tectural superintendence  of  Charles 
Bulfinch  and  was  completed  in  1827. 
Up  to  1827  the  total  cost  of  building 
and  grounds  was  $2,433,844.13. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  extensions 
was  laid  on  July  4,  1851,  by  Presi- 
dent Fillmore,  with  Daniel  Webster 
officiating  as  orator.  Thomas  U. 
Walter  directed  the  work  till  1865, 
when  he  resigned,  and  it  was  com- 
pleted under  the  supervision  of  Ed- 
ward Clark.  White  marble  from 


value  is  probably  far  below  the  actu- 
al cost  of  replacement. 

The  building  stretches  from  north 
to  south  751  feet  4  inches,  and  from 
east  to  west  350  feet  is  its  greatest 
dimension.  The  area  covered  by  the 
building  is  153,112  square  feet,  more 
than  3.7  acres. 

The  original  dome  was  of  wood, 
covered  with  copper,  but  this  was 
replaced  by  the  present  structure  of 
cast  iron  in  1865.  With  the  bronze 
statue  of  Freedom  on  top,  19  feet 
6  inches  high,  the  total  weight  of 
the  dome  is  3,983  tons.  The  dome 


Photo   Harris   & 

THE    SENATE    CHAMBER    IS    NEVER    PHOTOGRAPHED    IN    ACTION,     THEREFORE 
HUMAN    INTEREST    IS    LACKING    IN    THIS    PICTURE 


the  quarries  at  Lee,  Mass.,  was 
used  in  the  walls  and  the  columns 
came  from  quarries  at  Cockeysville, 
Md.  The  House  extension  was  first 
occupied  for  legislative  purposes 
December  16,  1857,  and  the  Senate 
January  4,  1859. 

The  Capitol  Building  and  Grounds 
are  officially  valued  as  follows: 
Building,  $15,000,000;  grounds, .  $10,- 
400,000;  total  $25,400,000.  But  the 


is  287  feet  5  inches  above  the  base 
line  of  the  east  front  and  217  feet 
11  inches  above  the  top  of  the  balus- 
trade of  the  building.  Its  greatest 
diameter  at  the  base  is  135  feet 
5  inches.  The  dome  surmounts  and 
Covers  what  is  known  as  the  Ro- 
tunda, a  circular  room  97  feet  6 
inches  in  diameter,  and  is  180  feet 
3  inches  high  from  the  floor  to  the 
top  of  the  canopy. 


THE    LEGISLATIVE    HALLS 


457 


The  three  great  Government  activ- 
ities housed  by  the  Capitol  are  the 
Senate,  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  United  States  Senate  Cham- 
ber is  located  in  the  left  wing  of  the 
Capitol,  or,  as  is  better  known,  the 
North  Wing.  It  has  seats,  of  course, 
for  the  ninety-six  senators  who 
compose  the  Senate — two  from  each 
State  regardless  of  size  or  popula- 
tion— and  is  surrounded  with  a  gal- 
lery, in  which  more  than  a  thousand 
spectators  can  find  seating  place. 

The  room,  113  feet  3  inches  long 
by  80  feet  3  inches  wide  and  36 
feet  high,  is  chaste,  almost  severe 
in  architectural  design  (see  picture), 
although  the  iron  and  stained  glass 
ceiling  gives  a  touch  of  color  with 
the  coat  of  arms  of  each  State. 

The  Senate  is  entirely  too  digni- 
fied a  body  ever  to  permit  itself  to 
be  photographed,  but  is  free  in  its 
welcome  of  visitors.  The  galleries 
are  always  open  except  when  the 
Senate  is  in  Executive  session,  when 
even  the  reporters',  diplomatic  and 
senators'  private  galleries  are  emp- 
tied and  locked. 

Arranged  in  a  'succession  of  semi- 
circles, ,  the  senators'  individual 
desks  are  all  within  sight  and  voice- 
reach  of  the  chair  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  who  presides  over  the  Senate. 
Democrats  sit  on  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent's right,  and  Republicans  on  his 
left,  a  general  statement  which  hard- 
ly holds  good  when  the  Senate  is  in 
session,  because  senators  move 
around,  talk  from  every  point  of 
vantage  or  sit  with  their  friends. 

Ordinarily  no  one  is  permitted 
upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate  save 
present  and  ex-legislators,  the  pages 
who  serve  them  with  books,  carry 
messages  and  run  errands,  such 
clerks  and  officials  as  are  a  part  of 
the  official  life  of  the  Senate  and 
representatives  of  certain  newspa- 
pers and  press  associations.  Only 
when  the  "Thanks  of  Congress"  have 
been  given  to  some  fortunate  in- 
dividual is  this  rule  abrogated,  the 
"Thanks  of  Congress"  carrying  with 


it  the  right  to  enter  the  Senate 
Chamber  on  the  floor.  But  both 
houses  of  Congress  extend  the  privi- 
lege of  the  floor  to  distinguish  visi- 
tors at  their  pleasure. 

Directly  opposite,  in  the  South 
Wing  of  the  Capitol,  is  the  House  of 
Representatives,  where  the  435  mem- 
bers of  the  House  have  their  delib- 
erations. It  is  similar  in  arrange- 
ment to  the  Senate,  but  is  much 
larger,  being  139  feet  long,  93  feet 
wide  and  36  feet  high.  Its  galleries 
will  seat  more  than  2,000  people. 
The  House  has  not  space  to  provide 
each  member  with  a  desk ;  indeed,  if 
the  country  keeps  on  growing  and 
the  House  keeps  on  in  its  present 
way  of  thinking,  it  will  not  be  able 
to  provide  all  its  members  with 
seats  in  a  short  while.  As  every 
one  knows,  the  House  itself  fixes  the 
population  of  a  district  which  shall 
entitle  that  district  to  one  represen- 
tative, but  to  increase  the  popula- 
tion quota  with  regard  to  the  in- 
crease in  the  total  population  only, 
would  be,  for  instance,  to  increase 
New  York's  representation  and  de- 
crease that  of  some  western  States 
not  growing  so  fast,  or  some  eastern 
States,  like  Delaware  and  Rhode  Isl- 
and, which  naturally  grow  more 
slowly,  though  as  fast  in  proportion, 
as  larger  States. 

The  House  is  generally  admitted, 
even  by  itself,  to  be  unwieldy  in 
size,  now  that  it  possesses  435  mem- 
bers, exclusive  of  the  delegates  from 
non-contiguous  possessions.  What  it 
will  be  when  a  new  census  is  taken 
and  a  new  apportionment  made,  no 
one  can  say.  Meanwhile,  semi-circu- 
lar rows  of  seats  serve  the  members 
apparently  as  well  as  do  their  desks 
the  senators.  For  no  member  gets  a 
chance  to  make  a  speech  of  such 
length  as  will  require  voluminous 
notes,  reports  and  books,  speaking 
time  being  the  most  precious  posses- 
sion in  the  House.  In  the  Senate, 
where  any  senator  who  can  get  the 
floor  can  speak  until  dumb  from 
throat  paralysis,  a  desk  capable  of 
holding  a  good-sized  slice  of  the  Con- 


458 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


gressional  Library — with  which  the 
Capitol  is  connected  by  a  subway 
with  electric  book  carrying  trains — 
is  a  vital  necessity. 

No  place  in  the  world  has  a  great- 
er interest  to  the  public  than  the 
National  Legislature  of  the  United 
States.  Two  hundred  and  fifteen 
newspapers  and  press  associations 
have  304  representatives  to  the  press 
galleries  of  both  houses,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  these  are  on  duty  every 
hour  of  every  session  of  Congress. 
Of  course,  during  executive  sessions, 
all  newspaper  men  are  excluded,  but 
as  many  of  the  press  representatives 
make  it  their  business  to  have  in- 
timate friends  among  the  members 
of  Congress,  there  is  little  if  any- 


Republic  and  those  who  wrote  the 
Constitution  with  unique  and  widely 
different  powers  these  three 
branches  of  the  Government  operate 
in  unity  and  serve  as  a  check  upon 
each  other. 

The  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, forming  together  the 
Federal  legislature,  commonly  called 
Congress,  are  entirely  dissimilar 
bodies.  The  House  of  Representa- 
tives lives  for  only  two  years,  then 
dies  completely,  a  new  House  being 
formed  by  the  biennial  election  of 
the  435  Representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  various  States. 

The  Senate  never  dies ;  it  has  been 
a  continuous  body  since  its  first  cre- 
ation. Senators  are  elected  for  six 


THE    CONGRESSIONAL    LIBRARY 


thing  which  is  really  secret.  Indeed, 
both  Congress  and  the  President 
trust  the  newspapers  far  more  than 
is  generally  realized,  and  it  is  a 
credit  to  the  profession  that  what 
should  be  kept  under  cover  for 
diplomatic  reasons,  is  concealed,  not 
because  of  absence  of  knowledge  on 
the  part  of  the  correspondents,  but 
because  of  loyalty  and  patriotism. 

It  would  be  idle  to  discuss  wheth- 
er the  Senate,  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, or  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  the  most  important 
factor  in  its  government.  Clothed 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  founders  of  the 


years,  but  a  senatorial  election  is 
held  every  two  years,  one-third  of 
the  members  of  the  Senate  going  out 
of  office  biennially.  The  result  of  this 
system  is  that  a  majority  of  the 
Senate  is  always  composed  of  older 
and  experienced  members.  Inasmuch 
as  many  Senators  are  re-elected, 
term  after  term,  there  is  always  a 
large  proportion  of  men  of  ripe  ex- 
perience and  long  service  in  the 
upper  house  of  Congress. 

Any  variety  of  legislation  with  one 
important  exception  can  originate  in 
either  branch  of  Congress.  Appro- 
priation bills  can  only  originate  in 


THE    LEGISLATIVE    HALLS 


459 


the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
no  appropriation  bill  can  become  a 
law  until  it  is  concurred  in  by  the 
Senate, 

No  bill  of  any  sort,  whether  origi- 
nating in  the  Senate  or  the  House 
of  Representatives,  becomes  a  law 
until  it  has  been  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  signature.  He  is  sup- 
posed to  return  these  bills  to  Con- 
gress within  ten  days.  If  he  signs 
the  bill  it  becomes  a  law ;  if  he  fails 
to  sign  in  ten  days  a  bill  automati- 
cally becomes  a  law.  If,  however, 
the  President  returns  a  bill  vetoed, 
that  is,  with  his  signature  refused, 


difference  between  218  and  290  is 
72,  the  theoretical  voting  power 
which  the  President  possesses  in  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

In  the  Senate,  the  bare  majority  of 
the  96  Senators  is  49  and  a  two- 
thirds  majority  necessary  to  pass  a 
bill  in  the  Senate  over  the  Presi- 
dent's veto  is  64,  the  difference  be- 
ing 15  Senators,  representing  the 
theoretical  power  of  the  President 
in  vote  in  the  Senate. 

Methods  of  work  in  Senate  and 
House  are  entirely  different.  There 
is  no  attempt  in  the  Senate  to  limit 
the  speaking  of  a  Senator  on  any 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

STATE,    WAR    AND    NAVY    BUILDING,    WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 


it  is  required  that  the  bill  be  passed 
again  by  both  Houses  of  Congress 
by  a  ttvo-thifds  majority  before  it 
can  become  a  law. 

This  is  equivalent  to  giving  the 
President  the  power  to  vote  in  the 
negative,  in  theory  at  least,  of  sev- 
enty-two Representatives  and  fifteen 
Senators. ' 

If  a  bill  be  passed  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  a  bare  ma- 
jority of  one  of  the  435  members  it 
will  receive  218  votes  in  the  affirma- 
tive against  217  in  the  negative.  If, 
however,  the  President  vetoes  the 
bill,  it  will  require  290  votes  to  pass 
it,  290  being  two-thirds  of  435.  The 


subject.  He,  therefore,  can  talk  as 
long  as  he  desires  and  a  "filibuster," 
as  it  is  called,  when  some  Senator 
or  group  of  Senators  desires  to  de- 
feat a  bill  by  talking  it  to  death,  or 
talking  until  Congress  expires,  or 
until  its  opponents  are  so  disgusted 
that  they  will  yield  to  the  ''filibus- 
ter," is  not  of  infrequent  occurrence. 
No  such  procedure  is  a  possibility  in 
the  House.  In  the  House  debate  is 
limited  by  the  rules  or  by  mutual 
agreement  to  a  certain  length  of 
time. 

When  a  bill  is  introduced  into  the 
House,  it  is  immediately  referred  to 
some  committee.  There  are  fifty- 


460 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


nine  committees  in  the  House  and 
seventy -five  in  the  Senate.  In  addi- 
tion there  are  a  number  of  joint 
committees. 

The  two  most  important  commit- 
tees in  the  House  are  those  on  Ways 
and  Means,  and  Appropriations,  and 
membership  in  either  is  a  mark  of 
confidence  •  by  the  House.  The 
House  elects  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee,  which  acts  as  a  Com- 
mittee on  Committees,  and  it  ap- 
points all  the  other  committees. 
Chairmanship  of  a  committee  is  a 
matter  of  seniority  of  service  in  the 
House. 

No  legislation  gets  to  the  floor  of 
the  House  for  the  discussion  of  the 


£>OST    OFFICE    DEPARTMENT    BUILDING 

House  as  a  whole  except  as  referred 
to  the  House  by  the  committee  or  by 
unanimous  consent.  Therefore,  the 
committee  is  extremely  important  to 
all  legislation  and  nine  out  of  ten 
of  the  thousands  and  thousands  of 
bills  of  all  kinds,  which  are  pro- 
posed in  the  House,  are  quietly 
strangled  in  committee  and  never  see 
further  light. 

Inasmuch  as  many  such  bills  are 


proposed  merely  for  "home  consump- 
tion" and  in  order  to  make  an  im- 
pression on  the  "folks  back  home," 
this  system  works  out  without  hard- 
ship either  to  the  Representative 
proposing  the  bill,  the  bill  itself,  or 
the  House  of  Representatives  as  a 
whole. 

The  committee,  the  members  of 
which  may  be  anywhere  from  three 
to  twenty  in  number,  will  debate  a 
proposed  bill,  hold  public  hear- 
ings for  the  benefit  of  interested 
parties,  make  amendments  to  it, 
and  finally  offer  it,  perhaps  in  a 
completely  changed  form,  back  to  the 
House  for  consideration.  The  House 
can  then  pass  it  or  reject  it  at  its 
pleasure.  Having  succeeded  in  pass- 
ing the  House,  such  a  bill  goes  to 
the  Senate  and  the  Senate  can  then 
either  pass  it  or  reject  it.  In  the 
more  common  cases  a  bill  passed  by 
the  House  which  is  not  entirely 
pleasing  to  the  Senate  is  revised  or 
amended  by  the  Senate  and  then 
sent  back  to  the  House,  tn  case  it 
is  impossible  for  the  two  branches 
of  the  Legislature  to  agree  upon  a 
bill,  a  Conference  Committee  is  ap- 
pointed, usually  of  three  members  of 
each  House,  which  Conference  Com- 
mittee meets  and  endeavors  to  ef- 
fect a  compromise  and  the  com- 
promise bill  is  frequently  passed 
without  further  debate  by  both 
Houses  of  Congress. 

No  story  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives would  be  complete  which 
did  not  contain  a  few  words  of  ref- 
erence to  the  most  powerful  figure 
in  the  House,  who  is,  of  course,  the 
Speaker.  The  Speaker  at  one  time 
appointed  the  members  of  all  com- 
mittees, including  that  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Rules,  which  determines 
the  order  in  which  important  meas- 
ures shall  come  before  the  House. 
In  the  old  days  he  was  himself 
chairman  of  this  committee,  but,  in 
1910,  the  House  took  this  power 
away  from  its  Speaker.  It  increased 
the  Committee  on  Rules  from  five 
to  ten  and  agreed  that  the  House 
itself  should  make  the  appointments. 


THE    LEGISLATIVE    HALLS 


461 


This  has  shorn  the  Speaker  of  his 
previous  power  but  he  still  has 
plenty  left.  He  can  recognize  or 
refuse  to  recognize  any  member  try- 
ing to  address  the  Chair  and  can 
thus  accelerate  or  retard  the  pas- 
sage of  any  bill. 

The  fact  that  the  House  elects 
usually  as  its  Speaker  a  national  fig- 
ure in  politics  and  a  man  of  great 
force  of  character  as  well  as  of 
brains  is  one  of  the  safeguards  of 
the  national  legislature.  He  is,  of 
course,  invariably  elected  by  a  strict 
party  vote,  a  Democratic  House  of 
Representatives  becoming  the  more 
powerful  as  a  Democratic  organiza- 
tion by  possession  of  a  Democratic 
Speaker,  the  same  obtaining  for  a 
Republican  House. 

The  wisdom  of  our  forefathers  in 
providing  for  a  Senate,  composed  of 
two  men  from  each  State,  represent- 
ing the  States,  and  not  the  people, 
to  act  as  a  check  upon  the  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  is  continually 
made  manifest.  The  Senate  acts 
often  as  a  brake  upon  the  too  head- 
long action  of  the  House  and  many 
an  ill-considered  piece  of  legislation, 
enacted  with  insufficient  debate,  and, 
perhaps,  in  the  heat  of  partisan  feel- 
ing in  the  House,  has  been  so  altered 
in  the  Senate  that  its  originators 
could  not  recognize  it  when  it  finally 
came  back  to  them. 

The  final  bulwark  of  the  people 
against  wrong  action  on  the  part  of 
the  National  Legislature  is  the  Su- 
preme Court,  which  must  pass  upon 
the  constitutionality  of  disputed  en- 
actments ;  and  with  first  a  commit- 
tee, next  a  House,  then  a  Senate, 
then,  perhaps,  a  joint  committee, 
again  an  action  by  both  House  and 
Senate,  a  possible  veto,  a  re-enact- 
ment over  that  veto  and  finally  pos- 
sible review  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
as  to  the  admissibility  of  legislation 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  that  law  must  be  ingenious 
indeed  which  is  unjust  or  ill-advised 
when  finally  read  into  the  Statutes 
of  the  United  States. 


SUPREME   COURT 

If  the  Senate  feels  its  dignity  to 
such  an  extent  as  never  to  yield  to 
the  blandishments  of  the  press  pho- 
tographer or  motion  picture  director, 
what  must  be  said  of  the  Supreme 
Court?  To  imagine  this  body  per- 
mitting itself  to  be  photographed  is 
an  impossibility.  Of  course,  there 
are  plenty  of  photographs  showing 
the  Supreme  Court  in  session,  but 
none  of  them  are  real.  All  are  made 
by  combining  pictures  of  the  vari- 
ous justices  with  an  interior  of  the 
Court;  a  real  photograph  has  never 
been  made. 

The  Supreme  Court  room  was 
formerly  the  Senate  Chamber.  Un- 
til 1859  the  Senate  met  in  the  pres- 
ent Court  room,  the  Court  then  sit- 
ting in  the  room  beneath,  which  is 
now  the  Law  Library.  It  is  a  sim- 
ple and  impressive  room  even  when 
unoccupied,  and  when  the  Court  is 
in  session  no  American  can  look 
upon  its  deliberations  unmoved,  for 
it  represents  to  him  the  very  apothe- 
osis of  the  democracy  on  which  his 
nation  is  built,  the  justice  and  lib- 
erty which  make  America,  America. 

As  every  American  knows,  the 
Supreme  Court  is  the  one  branch 
of  the  Government  which  has  abso- 
lutely no  connection  with  politics, 
with  patronage,  with  partisan  meth- 
ods of  any  kind.  Justices,  appointed 
for  life,  can  only  be  removed  for 
high  crimes  or  misdemeanors,  and 
no  justice  ever  has  been  removed 
since  the  Court  was  founded.  Presi- 
dents with  Supreme  Court  vacancies 
to  fill  have  all  realized  that  the 
American  people  would  scrutinize 
their  appointments  with  the  keenest 
eyes,  and  let  the  Senate  know  in  no 
uncertain  manner  if  they  did  not 
approve.  The  result  has  been  a  con- 
tinuing body  which  represents  the 
highest  legal  and  personal  attain- 
ments, and  one  which,  although  it 
often  makes  decisions  which  are  un- 
satisfactory to  many  people,  is  never 
questioned  as  to  its  integrity  by  its 
most  violent  critics. 

An   appointment   to   the   Supreme 


462 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Photo   Harris   & 


UNITED    STATES    SUPREME    COURT 


Bench  is  justly  regarded  as  exceeded 
in  honor  only  by  the  Presidency,  and 
many  contend  that  as  the  one  is  a 
permanent  appointment,  the  other 
but  a  temporary  position,  the  nine 
Supreme  Court  Judgeships  represent 
the  nine  highest  honors  America 
has  to  offer.  Certain  it  is  that  no 
man  who  has  sat  on  the  Supreme 
Bench  has  ever  lacked  for  apprecia- 


tion from  his  fellow  citizens,  or 
honor  from  them  for  the  high  at- 
tainment which  put  him  there. 

The  Court  sits  from  October  to 
June,  from  noon  until  4  P.  M.,  five 
days  in  the  week,  reserving  Satur- 
day for  consultation.  Strangers  are 
permitted  to  visit  the  court  at  all 
times,  although  accommodations  are 
limited. 


THE  PRESIDENT  DELIVERING  THE   INAUGURAL   ADDRESS 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  PRESIDENT— THE  EXECUTIVE 


THE     real     functions     of     the 
President  of  the  United  States 
are,     curiously     enough,     com- 
paratively  little  understood   by   the 
body    politic.      He    is    usually    re- 


government     which    obtain     in 
Europe. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  has  executive 
powers  which,  in  many  ways,  are 


Photo  Copyright  by  G.    V.    Buck.    Washington.   D.    C. 

EXECUTIVE    STAFF    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE 

ferred  to  in  conversation   as   being  considerably     less    in    extent    than 

the    equal     of    any    prince,     poten-  those   possessed   by    many   a    prime 

tate,    czar    or    other    ruler    of    the  minister  of  a  European  country  and 

monarchies      or      other      forms      of  decidedly    less    power    than    many 


Copyright   by   Munn    &    Co.,    Inc. 


466 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


monarchs.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
President  of  the  United  States  en- 
joys certain  privileges  and  powers 
not  possessed  by  even  the  rulers  of 
absolute  monarchies. 

The  three  principal  functions  of 
the  President  may  be  stated  as  a 
control  of  foreign  relations,  those 
powers  which  are  concerned  with 
legislation,  and  those  which  relate 
to  the  domestic  administration,  the 
latter  largely  concerned  with  the 
matter  of  appointments  and  patron- 
age, particularly  in  the  appointment 
of  members  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  President  has  a  practically 
unfettered  initiation  in  regard  to  all 


when  the  Mexican  war  began  with- 
out any  initiative  by  Congress. 

A  question  frequently  asked  of 
those  who  know,  and  especially  by 
new  Congressmen  who  come  for  the 
first  time  to  the  great  legislative 
halls  upon  Capitol  Hill,  is  "What  is 
the  form  of  the  President's  power 
over  Congress?  By  what  means 
does  he  bend  this  immense  legisla- 
ture representing  the  forty-eight 
States  and  the  hundred  million  of 
people,  to  his  will?" 

The  answer  to  this  question  is  ex- 
tremely complicated  if  taken  up  in 
detail,  but  in  its  broad  essentials 
the  control  of  the  President  over 


Photo   Harris   &  Ewing 

TELEGEAPH   ROOM,    EXECUTIVE    OFFICES,    WHITE    HOUSE 


foreign  affairs,  but  is  checked  in 
his  control  of  the  foreign  relations 
of  the  United  States  by  the  Senate, 
which  must  approve  by  a  two-thirds 
majority  all  treaties  negotiated  with 
a  foreign  country  through  the  De- 
partment of  State  for  the  President. 
While  the  power  to  declare  war 
belongs  entirely  to  Congress,  it  is 
perfectly  possible  for  an  Executive, 
without  an  act  of  Congress,  virtu- 
ally to  engage  in  hostilities.  An  ex- 
ample of  this  is  recent  within  the 
public  mind  in  the  expedition  sent 
across  the  Mexican  border.  A  some- 
what similar  case  occurred  in  1845 


Congress  may  be  stated  to  lie  in 
four  great  things.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  that  political  unity  of  a 
party  which  means  so  much  to  the 
politician.  Supposing  that  the  Pres- 
ident has  a  majority  in  Congress 
(and  few  Presidents  have  made 
much  headway  without  it),  the  Con- 
gress is  naturally  desirous  of  ap- 
pearing before  the  country  as  sup- 
porting and  aiding  the  President  in 
his  work.  The  President  then  has 
the  political  power  of  his  party  be- 
hind him  in  any  request  which  he 
makes  of  Congress  or  any  sugges- 
tions which  he  gives  them. 


THE  PRESIDENT— THE  EXECUTIVE 


467 


This  more  or  less  sentimental  con- 
sideration, however,  is  probably  of 
less  avail  than  the  three  great  pre- 
rogatives which  the  President  has. 
These  are,  of  course,  the  power  of 
vetoing  legislation  passed  by  Con- 
gress, which  does  not  meet  his  views, 
the  power  of  calling  an  extra  ses- 
sion of  Congress  and  the  power  of 
making  numerous  appointments, 
many  of  which  serve  as  "payments" 
for  political  work  or  for  something 
done  for  the  President  by  some  Con- 
gressman or  Senator. 

The  veto  is  employed  a  hundred 


President  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  Government  and  are  usu- 
ally with  him,  right  or  wrong.  Sen- 
ators and  Representatives  know  that 
when  a  bill  is  vetoed,  they  will  have 
to  explain  and  explain  pretty 
promptly  to  their  constituents  just 
why  they  are  right  and  the  Presi- 
dent is  wrong  if  they  are  going  to, 
to  use  a  slang  phrase,  "get  by  with 
it." 

It  has  sometimes  been  suggested 
by  some  members  of  Congress  who 
did  not  want  legislation  desired  by 
the  White  House  to  pass,  that  by 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE— HOME  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  CENTER  OF  WASHINGTON'S 

SOCIAL   ACTIVITIES 


times  in  a  veiled  threat  to  once  in 
actuality.  More  than  one  Senator 
or  Representative  has  been  quietly 
told,  perhaps  by  the  President,  more 
likely  by  some  friend,  that  this  or 
that  particular  bill  has  no  oppor- 
tunity to  pass  unless  a  tico-thirds 
majority  can  be  mustered.  This 
threat  of  the  veto  is  usually  suffi- 
cient to  keep  undesirable  legislation 
from  passage.  Every  Senator  and 
Representative  knows  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  hold  the 


making  an  agreement  to  end  the  ses- 
sion of  Congress  on  such  and  such 
a  day  and  so  arranging  matters  that 
the  objectionable  legislation  did  not 
come  up,  the  President  might  be  cir- 
cumvented without  an  open  break. 
Older  members,  however,  know 
that  the  Congress  has  power  only 
to  end  its  deliberation.  The  Presi- 
dent has  the  power,  guaranteed  un- 
der the  Constitution,  of  calling  a 
special  session  at  any  time  when  it 
may  be  necessary  to  do  so. 


468 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


More  than  one  President  has  in- 
formed a  Congress,  anxious  to  end 
without  passing  legislation  which  he 
deemed  necessary,  that  if  it  did  so, 
a  special  session  would  immediately 
be  called.  Here  again  is  the  neces- 
sity for  the  legislator  to  explain  to 
his  constituents  just  why  there  is  an 
extra  session !  The  majority  will 
not  believe  the  President  called  a 
special  session  of  Congress  without 
a  reason  therefor  and  the  question 
most  naturally  arising  is  "What  is 
that  reason?"  If  it  had  to  be  ex- 
plained to  the  people  that  Congress 


time  become  that  recent  Presidents 
have  ruled  that  they  positively  would 
not  see  office  seekers.  Mr.  Wilson 
has  gone  even  further  and  refuses 
to  discuss  patronage  matters  with 
Senators,  Representatives  or  politi- 
cians. Unquestionably,  all  Presidents 
have  had  to  break  their  rules  at 
times,  but  generally  this  refusal  has 
served  to  give  them  much  time  for  the 
public  business  which  would  other- 
wise be  wasted.  Most  Presidents  refer 
officer  seekers  to  heads  of  depart- 
ments and  thus  lift  from  their 
shoulders  a  burden  none  the  less 


Photo   Harris   &   Ewing 

THE    WHITE    HOUSE    KITCHEN    IS    LARGE    ENOUGH    TO    PROVIDE    FOR    LARGE 

BANQUETS 


has  been  negligent  or  has  been  at- 
tempting to  pass  over  its  responsi- 
bilities and  failed  to  support  the 
President,  there  is  naturally  apt  to 
be  fireworks  at  the  next  Congres- 
sional election. 

The  appointive  power  of  the  Pres- 
ident has  its  drawbacks.  Thousands 
who  want  jobs  either  try  to  see  the 
President  personally,  or  try  to  have 
"a  friend"  see  him  in  their  behalf.  So 
great  have  office  seeking  calls  on  his 


great    that    it    is    concerned    with 
minor  matters. 

Of  course,  the  office  seeker  still 
dogs  the  President's  door  and  many 
who,  as  one  quaint  wit  expressed 
it,  "also  icant  to  serve  who  only 
stand  and  wait"  are  still  to  be  found 
in  the  White  House.  But  if  such 
an  office  seeker  gets  the  President's 
ear  he  is  apt  to  find  a  chilly  atmos- 
phere when  he  gets  to  the  real 
rea-son  for  his  visit. 


THE    PRESIDENT— THE    EXECUTIVE 


469 


While  it  is  true  that  the  Presi- 
dent has  no  powers  over  Congress 
save  such  as  are  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  veto,  the  extra  session  call, 
appointments  and  the  opinion  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  it  may 
nevertheless  be  said  that  his  con- 
trol of  the  Government  is  more  ab- 
solute than  his  strictly  legal  powers 
might  presuppose.  More  and  more 
is  this  single  man  being  considered 
by  the  American  people  as  its  Gov- 


sired    enactments,    which    are    thus 
known  as  "executive  legislation." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  President 
has  no  power  to  introduce  any  bills 
into  Congress.  He  can  merely  indi- 
cate to  Congress  by  messages  what 
his  desires,  opinions  or  feelings  are 
in  regard  to  any  immediate  legisla- 
tion. But  practically,  having  at  his 
disposal  Federal  patronage  which  is 
of  value  to  many  Senators  and  Rep- 
resentatives, he  frequently  can  ob- 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE  FAMILY  LINEN  IS  WASHED  IN  THIS  LIGHT  AND  AIRY  LAUNDRY 


ernment,  and  less  and  less  is  it  hold- 
ing Congress  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  that  Government. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  provision 
which  makes  it  necessary  for  the 
Senate  to  concur  in  Presidential  ap- 
pointees to  the  more  important  posi- 
tions at  his  disposal  he  would  be 
invested  with  a  much  vaster  power 
than  he  actually  is.  Nevertheless,  a 
tremendous  quantity  of  Federal  pat- 
ronage is  within  the  gift  of  the 
President  and  it  is  by  the  use  of  this 
patronage  that  he  is  frequently  able 
to  swing  Congress  into  line  with  de- 


tain the  introduction  of  such  bills 
or  push  through  such  legislation  as 
may  seem  to  him  to  be  good. 

It  will  sound  strange  to  many 
ears  but  the  so-called  Cabinet  of  the 
United  States  has  no  legal  existence. 
The  cabinet  ministers  of  England  are 
an  integral  part  of  the  Government. 
The  cabinet  officers  of  the  United 
States  are  but  the  heads  of  the  sev- 
eral departments. 

True,  there  is  nothing  in  the  Con- 
stitution or  any  law  which  restricts 
the  President  from  making  such  free 
choice  as  he  may  desire  of  those 


470 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


gentlemen  who  stand  at  the  head 
of  the  several  great  departments  of 
the  Government,  but  when  they  are 
called  into  conclave  to  advise  with 
the  President,  they  have  no  power 
whatever  save  as  personal  friends, 
giving  their  advice  and  opinions  in 
matters  which  he  may  submit  to 
them. 

An  exception  should  be  noted  to 
the  restricted  powers  of  the  Presi- 
dent wThen  a  state  of  war  exists. 
At  such  a  time  the  Presidential  pow- 
er immediately  swings  to  its  maxi- 


Republicans,  Democrats,  Progres- 
sives, Prohibitionists,  Socialists,  men 
of  every  party  and  political  faith, 
unite  in  support  of  the  President  in 
matters  which  concern  the  welfare 
of  the  country,  and  to  this  patriotic 
feeling  and  belief  in  the  integrity 
of  the  holder  of  the  Presidential  of- 
fice can  be  found  the  root  of  that 
power  which  the  President  enjoys 
in  time  of  national  stress. 

The  only  way  in  which  a  Presi- 
dent can  be  removed  from  office  is 
by  the  process  of  impeachment.  This 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE    PRESIDENT'S    ROOM    AT    THE    CAPITOL 
Rarely   used   except  at  the  end  of  a  session 


mum.  As  commander  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  and  charged  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Nation,  in  time  of  war 
his  powers  may  exceed  those  vested 
in  any  other  luler  in  any  country. 
The  American  people  have  an  im- 
mense reverence  for  the  position  of 
Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation,  and 
any  man  who  obtains  that  office  is 
at  once  invested  by  all  Americans 
with  an  authority  and  a  dignity  far 
beyond  that  of  any  other  ruler. 


process  is  a  prerogative  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  An  im- 
peached President  is  tried  by  the 
Senate  sitting  as  a  court  with  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  presiding.  Only 
one  President  of  the  United  States 
has  ever  been  impeached,  Andrew 
Johnson,  and  the  impeachment  was 
not  sustained. 

In  addition  to  advising  with  the 
Cabinet  officers  in  regard  to  the  con- 


THE    PRESIDENT— THE    EXECUTIVE 


471 


duct  of  the  business  of  the  United 
States  Government,  the  President 
has  a  busy  time  with  foreign  re- 
lations. He  must  not  only  appoint 
all  ambassadors  and  ministers  to 
foreign  countries,  but  he  receives  the 
Ambassadors  of  foreign  countries  to 
this  nation  and  deals  directly  with 
those  representatives  of  foreign  gov- 
ernments and  rulers.  He  has  an 
enormous  official  and  personal  cor- 
respondence, the  greater  part  of 
which,  of  course,  is  handled  in  a 


not  yet  been  accomplished,  but  which 
has  threatened  on  more  than  one 
occasion  and  may  yet  become  a  fact. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  Constitu- 
tion or  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
to  forbid  the  continual  re-election  of 
one  man  to  the  Presidency. 

Still  a  third  unwritten  law  is  that 
popular  opinion  that  the  President 
must  necessarily  attend  to  business 
in  the  White  House.  A  President  is 
entitled,  by  lack  of  any  restrictions 
to  the  contrary,  to  live  in  any  part 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE  PRESIDENT  SIGNING  THE  SAN  ANTONIO   BILL,   MAKING   IT  LAW 


routine  manner  by  a  large  force  of 
clerks  in  the  White  House. 

There  are  a  number  of  unwritten 
laws  in  regard  to  the  Presidency, 
most  of  them  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance.  One 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  President  of 
the  United  States  should  not  leave 
the  United  States  during  his  term 
in  office,  a  thing,  however,  which  has 
been  done. 

Another  concerns  the  election  of 
a  President  for  more  than  two  con- 
secutive terms,  a  feat  which  has 


of  the  United  States  he  desires  and 
cannot  be  compelled  by  any  power, 
other  than  that  of  public  opinion,  to 
remain  in  Washington  or  attend  to 
business !  He  can  take  a  vacation 
every  day  in  the  year  if  he  wants 
and  no  one  can  call  him  to  account 
save  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  impeachment  proceedings. 

The  President  of  the  United  States 
is  an  extraordinarily  busy  man.  Just 
how  busy  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
the  uninitiated  to  appreciate. 

While  it  is  perfectly  possible  for 


472 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


any  citizen  of  the  United  States  who 
has  business  with  the  President  to 
see  him,  it  is  not  possible  for  even 
a  Senator  or  a  member  of  the  Cab- 
inet to  walk  in  upon  the  President 
uninvited.  It  is  necessary  for  any 
one  having  business  with  the  Presi- 
dent to  make  an  engagement  in  ad- 
vance. At  the  beginning  of  every 
business  day  a  slip  of  paper  headed 
"The  President's  Engagements"  is 
laid  before  the  President  showing 


THE  PRESIDENTS  ENGAGEMENTS 


Thursday,  Fobruary  25,  1915. 


..  *rK>:25  a.m.    Rep.  SaaU  and  eeaber*  of 
Carolina  dologatior.. 

10:30  a.o.    Rep.  Oudgor. 


10:40  a.u.  Rep.  UUcholl. 

10:45  a.m.  Hop.  Stevens  of  KSH  h 

ft):  50  a.m.  Rep.  Die.kinaor.  of  iJis 

15:55  a. a.  Rep.  Hill  of  Illinois 


r 


Rep.  Raker. 


'V il:50  a.o.         Rep.   Portor. 
t/ll;55  a.o.         Rep.  Helvering. 

'^l^OO  Noon.       Rep.  Viraor.  o(  Georgia. 

12:30  p.m. 
12:45  p.u. 


exactly  what  he  has  or  his  secre- 
tary has  agreed  he  shall  do  with 
his  time.  Such  a  Presidential  en- 
gagement slip  is  reproduced  here- 
with, and  shows  that  from  10:25  A. 
M.  to  12:45  P.  M.,  which  is  shortly 
before  lunch,  the  President  has  en- 
gaged to  see  and  talk  with  sixteen 
different  people. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  twenty-four 
hours  is  all  too  short  for  any  Presi- 
dent to  get  through  the  hundreds  of 


routine  and  thousands  of  official 
matters  which  require  his  attention 
daily.  No  President  has  ever  abused 
the  confidence  of  the  American  peo- 
ple. All  have  been  extremely  hard- 
working men  who  took  vacations  and 
laid  down  their  work  only  when 
their  health  absolutely  required  it. 
For  the  job  of  being  President  of 
the  United  States  is  perhaps  the 
hardest  individual  piece  of  work 
which  any  man  can  possibly  do  and 
the  reward  of  $75,000  a  year  and 
$25,000  for  traveling  expenses  is  far 
smaller  than  the  responsibility  of 
the  position  should  demand.  When 
it  is  considered  that  there  are  sev- 
eral men  in  this  country  drawing  a 
salary  of  one  million  dollars  a  year 
or  more  for  commercial  work  and 
any  number  of  railroad  presidents 
and  presidents  of  corporations  whose 
salaries  exceed  that  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  it  can  well  be 
understood  how  the  principal  emolu- 
ments of  the  office  of  Chief  Execu- 
tive are  found  in  the  honor  and 
glory  of  directing  the  destinies  of 
the  greatest  nation  in  the  world,  and 
not  in  any  material  reward  which 
the  position  may  bring. 

Outside  the  White  House,  the  per- 
son of  the  President  is  always 
guarded  with  Secret  Service  at- 
tendants. If  he  goes  to  the  theater 
— which  the  present  occupant  of  the 
White  House  does  often — he  has,  of 
course,  his  own  box.  Somewhere 
near  are  the  Secret  Service  men, 
who  precede  him  to  the  box  and 
watch  it  from  the  rear  and  from 
the  audience.  If  the  President  goes 
automobiling,  a  huge  Secret  Service 
car  with  U.  S.  S.  S.  on  the  rear, 
follows  him.  When  out  on  the  high- 
road, no  car  passes  the  Secret  Ser- 
vice car  and  the  White  House  car 
from  the  rear.  If  the  President 
happens  to  want  to  travel  at  fifteen 
miles  an  hour,  he  may  come  into 
the  city  at  the  head  of  a  proces- 
sion of  a  hundred  cars,  all  of  them 
anxious  to  pass,  but  none  of  them 
able  to  get  by  the  Secret  Service 
car,  the  crew  of  whicii  is  taking  s«s 


THE    PRESIDENT— THE    EXECUTIVE 


473 


chances  with  the  crank  who  might 
annoy,  or  worse,  the  President  of 
the  United  States. 

The  public  reception — a  relic  of 
days  when  visitors  to  the  Nation's 
Capitol  were  few  and  far  between — 
is  one  of  the  trials  of  a  President's 
life.  He  must  learn  to  be  more 
than  expert  in  his  greeting,  or  he 
will  have  a  hand  and  arm  incapaci- 
tated for  work  by  the  too  cordial 
grasps  of  his  admirers.  Indeed, 
often  in  small  receptions  to  a  visit- 
ing delegation  or  convention,  at- 
tendants will  quietly  pass  the  word 
and  request  all  visitors  to  be  careful 
not  to  grip  the  President's  hand 
hard.  Perhaps  no  President  who 
ever  shook  hands  with  five  thousand 
people  in  an  afternoon  had  this  mat- 
ter down  to  a  finer  science  than 
President  Roosevelt,  whose  method 
of  shaking  hands  left  the  visitor 
nothing  to  do  but  grin  and  bear  it; 
the  firm  and  sudden  grip  was,  of 
course,  self-preservative. 

The  President,  nominally  the  head 
of  Washington  society,  has  little 
time  for  gayety,  and  the  White  House 
is  not  normally  the  scene  of  enter- 
tainment. Of  course,  official  recep- 
tions to  the  Cabinet,  and  to  members 
of  Congress  and  to  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  are  necessary  and  frequent  oc- 
currences, but  as  a  rule  our  Presi- 
dents have  been  too  busy  to  indulge 
in  those  formal  and  elaborate  func- 
tions more  characteristic  of  older 
countries  than  one  which  is  largely 
built  on  the  idea  of  the  value  of 
time. 

The  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  addition  to  his  numerous 
duties  as  Chief  Magistrate,  finds 
time  to  be  also  President  of  the 
American  Red  Cross,  ex-offlcio  Pres- 
ident of  the  Washington  National 
Monument  Society,  patron  ex-offlcio 
of  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the 
Deaf,  a  Member  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  Chairman  of  the  Arling- 
ton Memorial  Bridge  Commission 
and  member  of  the  Commission  on 
Memorial  to  Women  of  the  Civil 
War. 


THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

No  nation  in  the  world  with  any 
pretensions  to  size  or  importance 
houses  its  king,  potentate,  emperor, 
czar  or  president  as  poorly  as  the 
United  States  provides  for  its  Chief 
Executive,  and  probably  not  until 
the  Executive  Mansion  or  White 
House  crumbles  to  dust  or  burns  to 
the  ground  will  this  condition  be 
remedied.  No  President  likes  to  say 
that  what  was  good  enough  for 
Washington  and  Lincoln  and  Mc- 
Kinley  is  not  good  enough  for  him. 
President  Roosevelt  had  the  courage 
to  add  two  \ving-like  structures  to 
the  White  House,  the  one  for  the 
accommodation  of  visitors  at  the 
great  White  House  receptions,  the 
other  to  accommodate  executive  of- 
fices, clerks,  files,  etc.,  but  with  this 
exception  the  White  House  stands 
to-day  what  it  has  been  for  many 
yearns,  a  residence  not  comparable  in 
size,  beauty,  convenience  or  utility 
with  a  dozen  private  residences  in 
the  Capitol  City  and  thousands 
throughout  the  land. 

Built  of  Virginia  freestone,  and 
painted  white  since  1814  to  conceal 
the  marks  of  the  fire  wThich  de- 
stroyed it  when  the  British  worked 
their  will  with  the  then  struggling 
capital,  the  White  House  is  to-day 
what  it  has  always  been — a  two 
story  structure  but  170  feet  long  and 
86  feet  deep.  It  is  beautiful  with 
the  beauty  of  simplicity ;  designed 
by  James  Hoban  from  the  home  of 
the  Duke  of  Leinster  near  Dublin, 
it  has  architecturally  satisfying 
lines,  and  the  great  portico  with 
Ionic  columns  is  not  unimpressive. 
Moreover,  the  house  is  modernized 
inside,  and  has,  of  course,  all  modern 
conveniences  of  light,  heat,  ventila- 
tion, convenient  kitchens,  laundries, 
garage,  servants'  quarters,  etc.  But 
the  fact  remains  that  it  is  a  relic  of 
an  age  when  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  was  on  trial,  when  the 
tide  which  receded  from  the  pomp 
and  royalty  of  the  mother  country 
ran  far  up  on  the  shores  of  sim- 
plicity and  plain  living,  and  that 


Photos  Harris  &  Ewing 

State  Dining  Room 


The  East  Room 

Garden  Facade 

THE   WHITE  "HOUSE 


The  President's  Desk 


THE    PRESIDENT— THE    EXECUTIVE 


475 


it  is  all  out  of  keeping  with  the  won- 
derful buildings  now  being  con- 
structed for  the  Government,  and 
built  by  it  for  its  own  use  in  times 
past  It  is  almost  laughable  to  think 
of  a  two  million  dollar  memorial  to 
Lincoln — who  so  loved  simplicity — 
and  a  shelter  provided  for  the  exist- 
ing chief  magistrate  which  would  be 
dear  at  almost  any  price! 

The  White  House  is  beautifully  sit- 
uated in  extensive  grounds,  with  a 
private  and  fenced-in  park  of  its 


own  to  the  rear  as  well  as  in  front, 
in  which  are  to  be  found  many  shade 
trees,  plants  of  all  sorts,  fountains, 
a  tennis  court,  etc. 

The  White  House  is  open  to  visi- 
tors at  certain  times,  and  any  one 
can  see  the  President  who  has  a 
real  reason  for  wanting  to  see  him. 
But  he  is  well  guarded  from  an- 
noyance or  the  mere  seeker  for  sen- 
sation, and  no  one  gets  to  him  with- 
out running  a  gauntlet  of  guard, 
and  clerk  and  secretary. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  CABINET 


IN  the  Cabinet  deliberations  the 
President  is  both  morally  and 

legally  supreme.  While  the  Cabinet 
of  the  United  States  has  no  legal  ex- 
istence as  such  it  has  by  custom 
become  an  integral  part  of  the 
United  States  Government.  The 
Constitution  says  that  the  President 
has  the  power  to  "require  the 
opinion  in  writing  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  Executive  De- 
partments upon  any  subject  relating 
to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices."  Later  on,  it  says,  "The 
Congress  may  by  law  vest  the  ap- 
pointment of  such  inferior  officers 
as  they  deem  proper  in  the  Presi- 
dent alone,  in  the  courts  of  law  or 
the  heads  of  the  Departments."  That 
is  all  the  Constitution  says  of  what 
is  generally  called  the  Cabinet. 
However,  the  President's  choice  of 
the  heads  of  the  various  Depart- 
ments of  the  United  States  is  rare- 
ly, if  ever,  questioned  by  the  Sen- 
ate, it  being  recognized  that  he  has 
the  right  to  call  to  his  assistance 
men  in  whose  judgment  and  wis- 
dom he  has  confidence  and  with 
whom  he  can  work  and  advise  to 
the  benefit  of  the  country  at  large. 

When  the  Cabinet  meets,  the 
President  sits  at  the  head  of  the 
table  and  the  various  cabinet  mem- 
bers around  it  in  the  order  of  their 
seniority.  It  is  generally  supposed 
that  questions  are  submitted  to  the 
Cabinet  first  for  discussion  and 
later  that  the  Cabinet  officers  vote 
upon  them.  Such,  of  course,  is  not 
the  case.  The  Cabinet  acts  in  an 
advisory  capacity  only  and  has  no 
power  over  the  President  in  any 


way  whatsoever.  There  is  a  story, 
probably  apocryphal,  of  General 
Grant,  who,  when  he  and  his  Cab- 
inet disagreed  as  to  a  certain  policy, 
offered  to  put  the  matter  to  a  vote. 
The  President  is  reported  to  have 
called  upon  his  Cabinet  members  in 
turn,  beginning  with  the  Secretary 
of  State,  As  each  Cabinet  member's 
name  was  called,  he  is  said  to  have 
answered  "Aye."  When  the  Presi- 
dent had  finished  he  called  his  own 
name  and  gravely  responded  "No." 
Then  he  said  to  the  assembled  Cab- 
inet officers,  "There  are  seven  votes 
in  the  affirmative  and  one  in  the 
negative  and,"  here  President  Grant 
paused,  "the  negative  vote  is  in  the 
majority."  Whereupon  the  Presi- 
dent did  as  he  had  intended  to  do 
all  along  in  spite  of  the  advice  of  his 
officers ! 

In  the  event  of  any  serious  disa- 
greement between  a  Cabinet  officer 
and  the  President  there  is  only  one 
course  open  and  that  is  a  resigna- 
tion. Historic  instances  will  occur 
to  many.  What  is  not  so  generally 
known,  however,  is  that  some  Cab- 
inet officers  have  to  be  asked  to  re- 
sign. Sometimes  the  asking  is  out- 
right, as  in  a  story  told  of  Grant 
who  made  one  of  his  Cabinet  offi- 
cers sit  down  at  his  own  desk  and 
dictated  his  resignation  for  him,  and 
sometimes  it  is  more  gentle,  as  in 
the  case  of  President  McKinley  and 
Secretary  of  War  Alger.  There  was 
difference  of  opinion  between  Presi- 
dent McKinley  and  his  Secretary 
of  War,  and  it  is  understood  that 
it  was  not  until  a  very  vigorous 
hint  had  been  given  by  those  close 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


478 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


to  the  President  that  Mr.  Alger  saw 
the  light  and  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion. The  case  of  Mr.  Ballinger  is 
fresh  in  the  public  mind  and  stu- 
dents of  politics,  at  least,  will  not 
need  to  be  reminded  that  this  gentle- 
man stayed  in  office  for  some  time 
after  there  was  a  decided  degree  of 
friction  between  him  and  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  land. 

The  President  has  a  personal  sec- 
retary, who  in  turn  has  many  as- 
sistants. The  job  of  being  private 
secretary  to  the  President  of  the 


United  States  is  not,  as  one  might 
think,  that  of  an  amanuensis.  Ra- 
ther has  the  office  the  dignity  of  a 
personal  cabinet  officer.  The  sec- 
retary to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  must  be  a  man  of  great  tact, 
ready  memory,  and  have  an  able 
grasp  upon  political  affairs.  He 
is  the  one  man  about  him  whom  the 
President  must  be  in  a  position  to 
trust  absolutely,  and  the  character 
of  the  many  gentlemen  who  have 
held  this  office  has  been  well  shown 
by  their  future  careers. 


INSULAR  AFFAIRS 


ADMIRAL  OF  THE  NAVY 

2E3SSffl«<«2! 


KCUT/VE) 


THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

ARCHITECT  EXCISE      SEtYERS 
ASSESSOR    FIRE  OCfT  STREETS 
AUOITOa      HEALTH     STCLCAHIM6 
CHARITY      INSPECTS  SURVEYOR 
COUNSEL     POLICE        TREES 
COLLECTOR  SCHOOLS  WATER  DEFT 
PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSION 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  BRANCH  OF  THE 

UNITED    STATES    GOVERNMENT 
Prepared  by  Mr.   W.   I.   Swanton,   Assistant  Engineer  U.   S.   B.   S. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE 


THE  following  brief  notes  rep- 
resent     the      abridgment      of 
a    ninety-two    page    pamphlet, 
prepared    by    the    direction    of    the 
Secretary    of    State,    which    shows 
the     enormous     condensation     nec- 
essary   in    a    work    of    this    kind. 


Vice-President  die,  the  Secretary  of 
State  would  become  President.  This 
really  makes  him  the  "Premier,"  al- 
though there  is  no  official  sanction 
for  the  title. 

The  act  of  July  27,  1789,  created 
an     executive     department,     to     be 


Photo  by  Harris  &  Ewing 

THE   GREAT   SEAL   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

Separate  written  authority  from  the  President  must  accompany  his  signed  document 
before   the  Seal  can  be  impressed 


The  Department  of  State  is  of  par- 
ticular interest,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that,  after  the  Vice-President,  the 
Secretary  of  State  is  the  ranking  of- 
ficial of  the  Government.  In  other 


known  as  the  Department  of  For- 
eign Affairs.  By  the  act  of  Sep- 
tember 15,  1789,  the  name  of  the 
department  was  changed  to  that  of 
the  Department  of  State,  the  princi- 


'  words,  should  both  the  President  and      pal  officer  thereof  to  be  called  the 

Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


480 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


Secretary  of  State,  and  provision 
was  made  for  the  safe-keeping  of 
the  acts,  records,  and  seal  of  the 
United  States. 

THE   GREAT    SEAL   OF   THE    UNITED 
STATES   OF   AMERICA 

The  Department  of  State  looks  ask- 
ance at  any  reproduction  of  the  Great 
Seal  and  will  never  sanction  its  publi- 
cation or  use,  but  it  will  be  found  iu 
cyclopedias,  dictionaries  and  atlases.  So 
its  publication  here  needs  no  apology, 
although  a  request  to  make  a  cut  of 
a  passport  was  denied  the  writer  largely 
because  the  Great  Seal  was  shown  on 
it.  When  properly  understood  the  seal 
should  have  the  same  respect  as  the 
flag.  A  committee  was  appointed  on 
July  4,  1776,  to  prepare  a  Great  Seal. 


posed  to  represent  Congress.  This  all 
symbolizes  the  union  and  strength  of 
the  States  preserved  through  the  aid  of 
Congress.  The  olive  branch  in  the  "dex- 
ter" talon  represents  peace,  while  the 
"sinister"  talon  holds  thirteen  arrows. 
In  his  beak  is  a  scroll  with  the  motto, 
"E  Pluribus  Unum"  (one  unity  composed 
of  many  parts).  What  is  above  is 
called  the  "crest,"  but  it  is  not  really 
a  crest  at  all,  because  the  stars  could 
not  be  tangibly  represented  as  in  na- 
ture, and  attached  to  the  top  of  a  hel- 
met, or  could  reasonably  be  represented 
as'  resting  on  a  shield. 

The  reverse,  which  has  never  been 
cut,  consists  of  an  unfinished  pyramid. 
In  the  zenith  is  an  eye  in  a  triangle 
surrounded  by  a  glory.  On  the  base 
of  the  pyramid  are  the  letters, 
"MDCCLXXVI,"  and  underneath  the 
motto,  "NOVU8  ORDO  SECLORUM" 
(a  new  series  of  ages),  while  above  is 


THE    GREAT    SEAL    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 


The  members  were  Benjamin  Franklin. 
John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  Sev- 
eral excellent  designs  were  submitted, 
but  Congress  was  not  satisfied,  so  an- 
other committee  was  appointed  com- 
posed of  Messrs.  Middleton,  Boudinot 
and  Rutledge,  and  finally,  on  June  20, 
1782,  the  Great  Seal,  as  we  now  know, 
was  adopted.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
the  heraldry  is  a  little  mixed,  as  might 
be  supposed  of  the  sturdy  Americans 
who  were  far  removed  from  the  Heralds' 
College.  A  heraldic  interpretation  is 
dry  and  uninteresting,  but  in  brief  the 
sense  is  about  as  follows  :  The  Ameri- 
can Eagle  bears  on  his  breast  an  es- 
cutcheon composed  of  thirteen  bars,  sup- 
porting top,  or  a  "chief,"  which  is  sup- 


the    motto,    "ANNUIT    COEPTIS"    (God 
has   favored   the   Undertaking). 

The  origin  of  "E  PLURIBUS  UNUM" 
is  shrouded  in  mystery  and  is  variously 
ascribed  to  Virgil  and  others. 

In  the  early  days  the  Secretary  of 
State  was  charged  with  a  multitude 
of  duties,  for  under  him  all  patents 
were  issued;  but  in  1849,  the  work 
of  the  Patent  Office  was  turned  over 
to  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 
Copyrights  were  also  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
but  in  1850  it  was  transferred  to 
another  department.  The  census  en- 


482 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


RECORDS  OF  THE  FIRST  CENSUS  OF  1780  MADE  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE 
ARE   STILL   IN   EXISTENCE 


umeration  was  also  under  the  charge 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  the 
early  days.  Certain  matters  relating 
to  pardons  were  also  under  his  juris- 
diction, but  in  1893  President  Cleve- 
land transferred  such  work  to  the 
Department  of  Justice.  In  1856  a 
law  was  passed  providing  that  the 


Secretary  of  State  should  be  author- 
ized to  grant  and  issue  passports, 
and  to  cause  them  to  be  granted  and 
verified  in  foreign  countries  by  dip- 
lomatic and  consular  officers,  under 
such  rules  as  the  President  might 
prescribe. 
What  might  be  called  the  organic 


THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    STATE 


4S3 


law,  indicating  the  duties  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  State,  is  comprised  in  Sec- 
tion 202  of  the  Revised  Statutes, 
reading  as  follows: 

"The  Secretary  of  State  shall  per- 
form such  duties  as  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  enjoined  on  or  intrusted  to  him 
by  the  President  relative  to  correspon- 
dences, commissions,  or  instructions  to 
or  with  public  ministers  or  consuls  from 
the  United  States,  or  to  negotiations 
with  public  ministers  from  foreign 
States  or  princes,  or  to  memorials  or 
other  applications  from  foreign  public 
ministers  or  other  foreigners,  or  to  such 
other  matters  respecting  foreign  affairs 
as  the  President  of  the  United  States 
shrll  assign  to  the  department,  and  ho 
shall  conduct  the  business  of  the  de 
partment  in  such  manner  as  the  Presi- 
dent shall  direct:  Provided,  That  the 
Secretary  of  State  may  prescribe  duties 
for  the  Assistant  Secretaries,  the  soli- 
citor, not  interfering  with  his  duties  as 
an  officer  of  the  Department  of  Justice, 
and  the  clerks  of  bureaus,  as  well  as 
for  all  the  other  employees  in  the  de- 
partment, and  may  make  changes  and 
transfers  therein  when,  in  his  judgment, 
it  becomes  necessary.  (June  20,  1874, 
vol.  18,  p.  90.)" 

By  the  act  of  February  3,  1887, 
the  Secretary  of  State  was  charged 
with  the  duty  of  certifying  to  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  with 
the  publication  in  some  newspaper, 
of  the  Presidential  election  returns. 

Among  the  other  duties  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  might  be  mentioned 
the  communication  and  correspon- 
dence of  the  President  with  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  States  and  the  attesta- 
tion of  all  presidential  proclama- 
tions, together  with  the  publication 
of  the  laws  and  the  Statutes  at 
Large  in  the  United  States,  em- 
bracing all  acts  of  Congress,  all 
proclamations  issued  by  the  Presi- 
dent, all  treaties  between  the  United 
States  and  foreign  nations,  includ- 
ing postal  conventions,  and  all  con- 
current resolutions  of  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress. 

The  compensation  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  under  the  act  of  September 
11,  1789,  was  $3,500;  under  the  act 
of  February  20,  1819,  it  was  raised 
to  $6,000;  in  1853,  increased  to 
$8,000;  and  under  the  act  of  March 
4,  1911,  increased  to  $12,000. 


In  1909  the  question  of  reorganiza- 
tion was  taken  up,  and  it  was  found 
necessary  to  modernize  and  other- 
wise make  for  efficiency.  This  was 
caused  by  a  number  of  reasons.  The 
foreign  trade  of  the  country  had 
been  growing  at  an  enormous  extent. 
The  people,  endeavoring  to  market 
their  manufactured  products  abroad, 
found  themselves  engaged  in  com- 
petition with  the  highly  developed 
industries  of  England,  France,  Ger- 
many, and  other  countries;  they 
were  brought  face  to  face,  not  only 
with  the  questions  of  tariffs  and 
customs  administration,  but  also 
with  the  need  of  that  measure  of 
diplomatic  and  consular  support  en- 
joyed by  their  competitors. 

The  war  with  Spain  had  marked 
a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  Ameri- 
can foreign  relations.  The  American 
people,  after  having  been  regarded 
for  many  years  as  a  stay-at-home 
nation,  absorbed  in  the  development 
of  their  own  resources,  had  sudden- 
ly been  recognized  to  have  assumed 
a  new  position  among  nations,  so 
that  it  would  be  thenceforth  impos- 
sible for  this  Government  to  escape 
the  responsibilities  of  being  one  of 
the  great  forces  in  international  af- 
fairs, and  of  taking  a  more  promi- 
nent part  in  discussions  and  delib- 
erations concerning  matters  of  in- 
ternational importance. 

Consequently  the  Department  of 
State  had  been  called  upon  to  deal 
with  a  multitude  of  questions  with 
which,  before  the  Spanish  war,  it 
had  not  been  concerned.  The  Hague 
conferences,  the  adjustment  of  boun- 
daries and  other  questions  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico  and 
Canada,  the  arbitration  of  disputed 
questions  with  Canada  and  other 
nations,  the  negotiation  of  treaties 
to  meet  new  conditions  arising  from 
the  growth  of  the  foreign  interests 
of  our  people,  the  efforts  of  the 
United  States  to  improve  the  condi- 
tions in  Central  America,  the  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  ques- 
tions arising  from  the  development 
of  Mexico,  and  the  adjustment  of 


484 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


difficulties  and  protection  of  the  in- 
terests of  nearly  40,000  of  our  citi- 
zens who  had  temporarily  taken  up 
their  residence  and  invested  nearly 
$1,000,000,000  of  American  money  in 
that  country,  the  reorganization  and 
improvement  of  the  Diplomatic  and 
Consular  Services,  and  the  increas- 
ing demand  of  the  public  upon  those 
organizations — all  these  things  and 
others  had  thrown  upon  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  a  mass  of  correspond- 
ence and  a  great  number  of  questions 
for  determination  or  discussion  en- 
tirely beyond  its  ability  to  treat 
efficiently  with  the  then  existing 
equipment. 

Every  immigrant  coming  to  this 
country,  and  every  American  going 
to  a  foreign  country,  increases,  in 
one  way  or  another,  the  possibility 
of  work  for  the  Department  of  State. 
The  inadequacy  of  the  force  of  the 
Department  became  critical,  and  a 
tentative  reorganization  of  the  De- 
partment upon  modern  lines,  with  a 
view  to  a  maximum  degree  of  effi- 
ciency, was  then  effected. 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  peculiar- 
ly the  adviser  of  the  President,  es- 
pecially those  points  involving  broad 
questions  of  general  policy,  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  is  also  responsible 
for  the  conduct  of  foreign  relations, 
and,  in  addition  to  the  time  required 
for  the  study  of  important  diplomatic 
questions,  he  receives  the  represen- 
tatives of  foreign  governments  for 
the  discussion  of  diplomatic  business 
and  is  in  touch  with  matters  affect- 
ing treaties  with  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  of  the  Senate.  The 
Assistant  Secretary,  who  receives  a 
salary  of  $5,000  a  year,  does  not 
specialize,  but  must  be  prepared  to 
be  in  close  touch  with  all  the  larger 
questions  of  foreign  policy,  and  re- 
lieve the  Secretary,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, of  a  portion  of  the  general 
work.  This  is  a  very  responsible 
position  in  the  Department. 

The  Second  Assistant  Secretary  is 
assigned  to  the  detailed  treatment 
by  the  departmental  and  diplomatic 
services  of  current  diplomatic  and 


political  questions,  except  such  spe- 
cial matters  as  may,  from  time  to 
time,  be  assigned  the  Counselor.  It  is 
his  duty  to  direct  the  activities  of 
all  the  bureaus  and  divisions  in  re- 
spect to  the  diplomatic  questions 
that  are  constantly  arising  all  over 
the  world,  and  to  examine  and  ap- 
prove the  correspondence  in  respect 
to  such  matters  prepared  for  the 
signature  of  the  Secretary  or  the 
Acting  Secretary.  His  salary  is  $4,- 
500  a  year. 

The  administrative  direction  of 
the  Diplomatic  Service,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  treatment  of  sub- 
jects of  international  intercourse,  is 
delegated  to  the  Third  Assistant 
Secretary  of  State.  He  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  maintenance,  upkeep,  and 
expenditures  for  that  service.  He 
also  directs  the  treatment  of  all 
questions  in  relation  to  international 
congresses,  conferences,  commissions, 
expositions,  and  ceremonial  matters, 
and  has  the  supervision  of  the  Di- 
vision of  Western  European  Affairs. 
He  is  charged  with  the  approval  or 
disapproval  of  expenditures  of  pub- 
lic moneys  in  the  department  and 
the  foreign  service.  His  salary  is 
$4,500  a  year. 

The  administration  of  the  Con- 
sular Service  and  the  direction  of  its 
activities  in  connection  with  the  pro- 
motion and  extension  of  our  foreign 
commerce  is  delegated  to  the  Direc- 
tor of  the  Consular  Service,  who  has 
immediate  control  of  expenditures 
for  the  maintenance  of  that  organi- 
zation. He  is  also  charged  with 
the  study  and  treatment  of  such 
special  subjects  as  may,  from  time 
to  time,  be  assigned  to  him  by  the 
Secretary  and  the  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  State.  He  also  receives 
$4,500  per  annum. 

The  Chief  Clerk  has  the  direction 
of  the  internal  business  of  the  de- 
partment, of  the  clerical  force,  the 
methods  of  transacting  business,  in- 
cluding the  receipt  and  transmission 
of  mail,  the  purchase  of  supplies, 
etc.  His  compensation  is  $3,000  a 
year. 


THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    STATE 


485 


Generally  speaking,  the  questions 
of  law,  international  or  municipal, 
which  may  be  involved  in  the  de- 
termination of  matters  brought  be- 
fore the  department,  are  referred  to 
the  Solicitor's  office.  The  result  is, 
that  the  scope  of  the  work  coming 
before  the  office  is  very  broad,  in- 
cluding questions  of  constitutional 
law,  admiralty  law,  criminal  law, 
the  law  of  torts,  contracts,  etc.,  and, 
of  course,  all  branches  and  fields  of 
international  law.  The  more  im- 
portant of  the  matters  which  actual- 
ly come  before  the  office  for  determ- 
ination are  as  follows : 

Diplomatic  claims 

International  extraditions 

Citizenship,  naturalization,  expatria- 
tion, passports,  etc. 

Extraterritoriality  and  the  jurisdiction 
of  ambassadors,  ministers,  or  consular 
courts 

Neutrality,  belligerency,  contraband, 
asylum,  etc. 

International  arbitrations 

Distribution  of  awards 

There  are  also  seven  chiefs  of 
bureaus  as  follows : 


Accounts   and    disbursing   clerk 

Appointments 

Citizenship 

Consular 

Diplomatic 

Indexes  and  archives 

Rolls  and  library 

The  affairs  of  the  department  are 
also  handled  by  Chiefs  of  Divisions, 
for 

Far  Eastern  affairs 
Information 
Latin-American    affairs 
Mexican  affairs 
Near  Eastern  affairs 
Western   European    affairs 

There  are  also  translators,  as- 
sistant solicitors,  law  clerks,  private 
and  confidential  secretaries,  as  well 
as  dispatch  agents  in  New  York, 
San  Francisco,  New  Orleans  and 
London. 

In  the  Bureau  of  Rolls  and  Li- 
brary are  contained  some  of  the 
most  valuable  documents  concern- 
ing our  history,  including  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  Continental 
Congress  records,  and  historical 
manuscripts  of  all  kinds. 


OUR  CONSULAR  SERVICE 


many  years  it  has  been  the 
custom  for  Americans  to  ridi- 
cule the  American  Consular 
Service,  holding  up  to  scorn  the 
comic  opera  creation  who  held  the 
center  of  the  stage  with  his  palm- 
leaf  fan  and  slow  drawl  as  the  pro- 
totype of  a  consular  officer.  In  the 
distant  past  there  may  have  been 
an  occasional  officer  who  lived  down 
to  this  popular  conception,  but  it  is 
so  no  longer. 

The  modern  Consular  Service  had 
its  inception  in  the  days  of  Grover 
Cleveland,  although  it  was  Theodore 
Roosevelt  who  put  it  upon  its  pres- 
ent firm,  non-political  and  non-par- 
tisan basis,  with  merit  and  merit 
only  as  the  cause  for  advancement. 
Since  then  it  has  grown  in  efficiency 
and  size  until  to-day  it  is  unrivaled. 

In  the  past  good  results  from  the 
Consular  Service  were  infrequent 


because  of  the  method  of  appoint- 
ment of  consular  officers  without  re- 
gard to  their  particular  fitness  for 
the  places  to  which  they  were  sent, 
or  as  the  former  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Root,  expressed  it,  "The  placing 
of  round  pegs  in  square  holes." 
Since  1896,  when  the  first  order  pro- 
viding for  an  examination  before 
appointment  went  into  effect,  the 
Service  has  been  strengthened  and 
improved  until  those  who  knew  it 
in  the  old  days  can  no  longer  recog- 
nize it. 

Men  who  pass  an  examination  for 
a  Consular  position  to-day  have  to 
know  a  variety  of  things  and  know 
them  well.  Examinations  are  both 
oral  and  written,  the  two  .counting 
equally.  The  oral  examination  de- 
termines the  candidate's  business 
ability,  alertness,  general  contem- 
porary information,  and  natural  fit- 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


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THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    STATE 


487 


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488 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


ness  for  the  service,  including  moral, 
mental  and  physical  qualifications, 
character,  address  and  general  edu- 
cation and  good  command  of  Eng- 
lish. The  written  examination  in- 
cludes French,  German  or  Spanish; 
the  natural,  industrial  and  commer- 
cial resources  and  the  commerce  of 
the  United  States,  especially  with 
reference  to  possibilities  of  increas- 
ing and  extending  the  foreign  trade 
of  the  United  States ;  political  econ- 
omy and  the  elements  of  interna- 
tional, commercial  and  maritime 
law,  American  history,  government 
and  institutions;  political  and  com- 
mercial geography;  arithmetic  (as 
used  in  commercial  statistics,  tariff 
calculations,  exchange,  accounts, 
etc.)  ;  the  modern  history,  since 
1850,  of  Europe,  Latin-America  and 
the  Far  East,  with  particular  atten- 
tion to  political,  commercial  and  eco- 
nomic tendencies. 

After  passing  a  stiff  examination 
and  getting  an  appointment,  young 
consular  officers  go  to  school  in 
Washington,  at  a  "model  consulate" 
in'  the  Consular  Bureau  at  the  State 
Department.  Every  newly  appointed 
consul  is  required  to  proceed  to 
Washington  and  spend  at  least  thirty 
days  in  this  school  learning  just 
what  he  will  be  expected  to  do  when 
he  reaches  his  post,  and  how  he  may 
get  the  best  results  from  whatever 
conditions  confront  him.  Although 
this  special  form  of  training  has 
been  in  force  but  a  comparatively 
short  time  it  is  showing  its  good 
effect  by  the  improvement  in  the 
work  and  reports  of  the  consular 
officers,  and  by  the  attitude  of 
appreciation  and  understanding  of 
their  duties  which  the  consuls  dis- 
play as  a  result  of  the  instructions. 

A  consular  officer  has  no  duty  of 
greater  importance  than  that  of 
service  to  his  countrymen.  The 
splendid  service  rendered  by  United 
States  consular  officers  in  the  field 
of  the  great  war  now  raging  is  well 
known,  and  none  of  the  unfortunates 
who  were  helped  in  Berlin,  London, 
Paris  and  Belgium  by  our  Consuls 
General,  consuls  and  consular  agents 


will  ever  forget  the  service  they 
received.  Some  of  the  accompany- 
ing pictures  show  how  great  was  the 
pressure  on  the  consulates  of  the 
great  neutral  nation  in  the  countries 
at  war,  where  citizens  of  the  enemy 
clamored  for  help,  relief,  passports, 
and  the  hundred  and  one  things  that 
only  a  trained,  hard  working  and 
disinterested  staff  could  do. 

Important  as  such  services  are, 
they  are,  luckily,  not  often  required. 
Nor  is  the  gathering  and  transmit- 
tal  of  commercial  information,  im- 
portant though  that  duty  is,  the 
whole  work  of  a  consular  officer. 
Only  when  reading  a  list  of  his 
duties  is  it  easy  to  comprehend  why 
those  who  fill  such  positions  must 
be  highly  educated  and  alert  men. 

For  instance,  a  consular  officer 
must  maintain  and  promote  all  in- 
terests of  American  citizens.  He 
is  required  to  protect  them  in  all 
privileges  provided  by  treaty  or  con- 
ceded by  usage;  to  vis6  and,  when 
so  authorized,  to  issue  passports; 
when  permitted  by  treaty,  law  or 
usage,  to  take  charge  of  and  settle 
the  personal  estates  of  Americans 
who  may  die  abroad,  without  legal 
or  other  representatives,  and  remit 
the  proceeds  to  the  Treasury  in  case 
they  are  not  called  for  by  a  legal 
representative  within  one  year ;  to 
ship,  discharge,  and,  under  certain 
conditions,  maintain  and  send  Amer- 
ican seamen  to  the  United  States ; 
to  settle  disputes  between  masters 
and  seamen  of  American  vessels ;  to 
investigate  charges  of  mutiny  or  in- 
subordination on  the  high  seas  and 
send  mutineers  to  the  United  States 
for  trial ;  to  render  assistance  in  the 
case  of  wrecked  or  stranded  Amer- 
ican vessels,  and,  in  the  absence  of 
the  master  or  other  qualified  per- 
son, take  charge  of  the  wrecks  and 
cargoes,  if  permitted  to  do  so  by  the 
laws  of  the  country ;  to  receive  the 
papers  of  American  vessels  arriving 
at  foreign  ports  and  deliver  them 
after  the  discharge  of  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  vessels  toward  the  mem- 
bers of  their  crews,  and  upon  the 
production  of  clearances  from  tlie 


490 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


proper  foreign  port  officials;  to  cer- 
tify to  the  correctness  of  the  valua- 
tion of  merchandise  exported  to  the 
United  States  where  the  shipment 
amounts  to  more  than  $100;  to  act 
as  official  witnesses  to  marriages  of 
American  citizens  abroad ;  to  aid  in 
the  enforcement  of  the  immigration 
laws,  and  to  certify  to  the  correct- 
ness of  the  certificates  issued  by 
Chinese  and  other  officials  to  Chi- 
nese persons  coming  to  the  United 
States ;  to  protect  the  health  of  our 
seaports  by  reporting  weekly  the 
sanitary  and  health  conditions  of 
the  port  at  which  he  resides,  and 
by  issuing  to  vessels  clearing  for  the 
United  States  bills  of  health  describ- 
ing the  condition  of  the  ports,  the 
vessels,  crews,  passengers  and  car- 
goes; and  to  take  depositions  and 
perform  other  acts  which  public 
notaries  in  the  United  States  are 
authorized  or  required  to  perform. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  du- 
ties, consular  officers  in  China,  Tur- 
key, Siam,  Muskat,  Morocco,  and  a 
few  other  so-called  non-Christian 
countries,  are  invested  with  judicial 
powers  over  American  citizens  in 
those  countries.  These  powers  are 
usually  denned  by  treaty,  but  gen- 
erally include  the  trial  of  civil  cases 
to  which  Americans  are  parties,  and 
in  some  instances  extend  to  the  trial 
of  criminal  cases. 

The  service  now  employs  about 
1,700  people.  The  principal  officers 
and  their  compensations  are  as 
follows : 

Consuls  General 

Consul  General  of  Class  1 $12,000 

Consul  General  of  Class  2 8,000 

Consul  General  of  Class  3 6,000 

Consul  General  of  Class  4 5,500 

Consul  General  of  Class  5 4,500 

Consuls 

Consul  of  Class  1 $8,000 

Consul  of  Class   2 6,000 

Consul  of  Class  3 5,000 

Consul  of  Class  4 4,500 

Consul  of  Class  5 4,000 

Consul  of  Class  6 3,500 

Consul  of  Class  7 3,000 

Consul  of  Class  8 2,500 

Consul  of  Class  9 2,000 

At  present  there  are  241  consuls 
in  the  nine  classes. 


The  consular  officer  in  London, 
Paris  or  Berlin  lives  a  busy,  active 
and  civilized  life.  The  consular  of- 
ficer in  some  small  place  in  a  semi- 
civilized  country  may  have  little  to 
do  and  no  amusement.  But  in  either 
event  he  is  a  willing  servant  of  his 
country  and  doing  for  it  a  work 
beyond  computation  in  price,  al- 
though it  is  a  fact  that  fees  col- 
lected for  the  multitudinous  serv- 
ices he  renders  almost  equal  the  cost 
of  the  service. 

All  fees  received  by  any  officer  in 
the  consular  service  for  services  ren- 
dered in  connection  with  the  duties 
of  his  office  or  as  a  consular  officer, 
including  fees  for  notarial  services, 
and  fees  for  taking  depositions,  exe- 
cuting commissions  or  letters  roga- 
tory,  settling  estates,  receiving  or 
paying  out  moneys,  caring  for  or 
disposing  of  property,  are  paid  into 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 
The  only  compensation  of  officers  is 
their  salaries,  except  in  the  case  of 
consular  agents.  Consular  agents 
are  paid  o»e  half  of  the  fees  re- 
ceived in  their  offices,  up  to  a  maxi- 
mum sum  of  one  thousand  dollars 
in  any  one  year,  the  other  half  being 
paid  into  the  Treasury. 

The  fees  collected  do  not  nearly 
equal  the  expenditures  of  the  serv- 
ice. Fees  for  a  deposition  may  run 
to  $100,  depending  on  its  length. 

The  illustrations  on  page  481  show 
two  types  of  consulates  in  far  coun- 
tries— the  handsome  residence  at 
Cairo,  Egypt,  contrasted  with  the 
mud-roof  dwelling  in  far  off  Tur- 
key. But  the  type  of  dwelling  makes 
little  difference  to  its  occupant — he 
is  there  to  serve,  to  open  the  mar- 
kets of  his  country  to  American 
manufacturers,  and  to  serve  Amer- 
icans in  need  or  in  distress.  In- 
deed, he  does  more  than  serve  his 
own  countrymen — not  infrequently 
he  serves  the  merchants  of  the  coun- 
try to  which  he  is  sent. 

The  Consular  Reports  —  public 
documents  published  from  the  let- 
ters sent  in  to  the  Consular  Bureau 
of  the  State  Department — contain 
vital  information  regarding  trade 


THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    STATE 


491 


conditions  in  all  countries.  How 
valuable  these  are  was  well  brought 
out  recently  in  a  published  inter- 
view with  the  president  of  the  Shef- 
field (England)  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. It  seems  that  certain  Shef- 
field manufacturers  had  sudden  need 
to  know  the  sources  and  distribution 
throughout  the  world  of  wolfram 
ore,  from  which  tungsten,  essential 
in  the  manufacture  of  high-resist- 
ance steel  for  guns  and  armor,  is 
made.  The  president  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  was  unable  to 
locate  the  information  he  desired 
from  British  sources.  In  his  inter- 
view he  said: 

"It  was   suggested  that   I  would  find 

1i  in  the  reports  of  American  consuls, 
did  find  it  there.  I  discovered  where 
wolfram  was  produced ;  the  quality, 
state  of  the  trade  and  amount  avail- 
able. That  information  assisted  ma- 
terially in  bringing  about  the  manufac- 
ture of  tungsten  powder  in  this  country, 
which,  although  started  during  the  war, 
has  been  a  magnificent  success  and  will 
be  a  great  success  after  the  war." 

The  Director  of  the  Consular 
Service,  Mr.  Wilbur  J.  Carr,  who 
has  risen  from  the  ranks  in  his 


twenty  years  of  service,  called  at- 
tention recently  to  a  unique  feature 
of  America's  system,  which  is  one 
reason  why  it  is  so  efficient.  This 
is  the  system  of  inspection.  Speak- 
ing of  it,  Mr.  Carr  said: 

"In  this  field  we  have  been  pioneers. 
The  •  law  of  1906  created  five  so-called 
consul  generals  at  large.  Each  travels 
over  a  grand  division  of  the  world,  in- 
specting- each  consular  office  once  every 
two  years.  The  Department  of  State 
is  enabled  by  this  means  not  only  to 
detect  and  rectify  irregularities  in  the 
work  of  individual  consuls,  but  to  en- 
force uniformity  of  method  and  organ- 
ization. If  a  consular  officer  in  a  far- 
off  corner  of  the  globe,  by  inspiration  or 
careful  thought  evolves  an  improved 
method  of  performing  some  routine  duty 
or  discovers  a  new  and  effective  way 
by  which  the  foreign  trade  of  the  United 
States  may  be  promoted,  this  is  discov- 
ered by  the  inspector  on  his  next  visit 
and  if  found  good  in  every  way,  com- 
municated to  the  Department  of  State, 
and  by  it  to  the  other  consuls  at  large, 
with  the  result  that  all  which  is  best  in 
individual  offices  and  in  the  practices 
of  individual  officers  becomes  eventually 
the  common  property  of  the  service. 
Other  governments  recognize  the  prac- 
tical value  of  this  inspection  system. 
Great  Britain  has  undertaken  something 
analogous  in  a  tentative  way  and  the 
French  foreign  office  has  a  like  project 
under  consideration." 


OFFICIAL    DUTIES 


SECRETARY   OF   STATE 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  charged, 
under  the  direction  of  the  President, 
with  the  duties  appertaining  to  corre- 
spondence with  the  public  ministers  and 
the  consuls  of  the  United  States,  and 
with  the  representatives  of  foreign  pow- 
ers accredited  to  the  United  States  ;  and 
to  negotiations  of  whatever  character 
relating  to  the  foreign  affairs  of  the 
United  States.  He  is  also  the  medium 
of  correspondence  between  the  President 
and  the  chief  executives  of  the  several 
States  of  the  United  States  ;  he  has  the 
custody  of  the  Great  Seal  of  the  United 
States,  and  countersigns  and  affixes  such 
seal  to  all  Executive  proclamations,  to 
.various  commissions,  and  to  warrants 
for  the  extradition  of  fugitives  from 
justice.  He  is  regarded  as  the  first  in 
rank  among  the  members  of  the  Cabinet. 
He  is  also  the  custodian  of  the  treaties 
made  with  foreign  states,  and  of  the 
laws  of  the  United  States.  He  grants 
and  issues  passports,  and  exequaturs  to 
foreign  consuls  in  the  United  States  are 
issued  through  his  office.  He  publishes 
the  laws  and  resolutions  of  Congress, 


amendments    to    the    Constitution,    and 
proclamations  declaring  the  admission  of 
new  States  into  the  Union. 
COUNSELOR 

The  Counselor  becomes  the  Acting 
Secretary  of  State  in  the  absence  of  the 
Secretary.  He  is  charged  with  the  su- 
pervision of  such  matters  and  the  prep- 
aration of  such  correspondence  as  may 
he  assigned  to  him  by  the  Secretary. 

ASSISTANT   SECRETARIES   OF   STATE 

Under  the  organization  of  the  depart- 
ment the  Assistant  Secretary,  Second 
Assistant  Secretary  and  Third  Assistant 
Secretary  are  charged  with  the  super- 
vision of  all  correspondence  with  the 
diplomatic  and  consular  officers,  and  are 
intrusted  with  the  preparation  of  the 
correspondence  upon  any  questions  aris- 
ing in  the  course  of  the  public  business 
that  may  be  assigned  to  them  by  the 
Secretary. 
DIRECTOR  OF  THE  CONSULAR  SERVICE 

The  Director  of  the  Consular  Service 
is  charged  with  the  general  supervision 
of  the  Consular  Service  and  such  other 


492 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


duties  as  may  be  assigned  to  him  from 
time  to  time  by  the  Secretary. 

CHIEF    CLERK 

The  Chief  Clerk  has  general  super- 
vision of  the  clerks  and  employees  and 
of  departmental  matters ;  charge  of  the 
property  of  the  department. 

FOREIGN  TRADE  ADVISER 

General  supervision  of  foreign  trade 
matters  ;  diplomatic  and  consular  corre- 
spondence and  miscellaneous  correspond- 
ence relating  thereto. 

DIPLOMATIC    BUREAU 

Diplomatic  correspondence  and  miscel- 
laneous correspondence  relating  thereto. 

DIVISION    OF   LATIN-AMERICAN    AFFAIRS 

Diplomatic  and  consular  correspond- 
ence, on  matters  other  than  those  of  an 
administrative  character,  in  relation  to 
Central  America,  Panama,  South  Amer- 
ica and  the  West  Indies. 

DIVISION    OF    MEXICAN    AFFAIRS 

Diplomatic  and  consular  correspond- 
ence, on  matters  other  than  those  of  an 
administrative  character,  in  relation  to 
Mexico. 

DIVISION    OF   FAR  EASTERN    AFFAIRS 

Diplomatic  and  consular  correspond- 
ence, on  matters  other  than  those  of  an 
administrative  character,  in  relation  to 
Japan,  China,  and  leased  territories, 
Siberia,  Hong-kong,  French  Indo-China, 
Siam,  Straits  Settlements,  Borneo,  East 
Indies,  India,  and  in  general  the  Far 
East. 

DIVISION    OF   NEAR  EASTERN   AFFAIRS 

Diplomatic  and  consular  correspond- 
ence, on  matters  other  than  those  of  an 
administrative  character,  in  relation  to 
Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Russia,  Rou- 
mania,  Servia,  Bulgaria,  Montenegro, 
Turkey,  Greece,  Italy,  Abyssinia,  Persia, 
Egypt,  and  colonies  belonging  to  coun- 
tries of  this  series. 

DIVISION     OF    WESTERN    EUROPEAN 
AFFAIRS 

Diplomatic  and  consular  correspond- 
ence, on  matters  other  than  those  of  an 
administrative  character,  in  relation  to 
Great  Britain  (Canada,  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  and  British  colonies  not  else- 
where enumerated),  Portugal,  Spain, 
France,  Morocco,  Belgium,  the  Kongo, 
Switzerland,  Norway,  Sweden,  the  Neth- 
erlands, Luxemburg,  Denmark  and 
Liberia. 

CONSULAR   BUREAU 

Consular  correspondence  and  miscel- 
laneous correspondence  relating  thereto, 
and  administrative  matters  relating  to 
the  consular  service. 


BUREAU   OF  APPOINTMENTS 

Custody  of  the  Great  Seal  and  appli- 
cations for  office,  and  the  preparation 
of  commissions,  exequaturs,  warrants  of 
extradition,  Departmental  Register,  dip- 
lomatic and  consular  lists  and  consular 
bonds  ;  correspondence  and  other  matters 
regarding  entrance  examinations  for  the 
foreign  service. 

BUREAU   OF   CITIZENSHIP 

Examination  of  applications  for  pass- 
ports, issuance  of  passports  and  authen- 
tications ;  receiving  and  filing  duplicates 
of  evidence,  registration,  etc.,  under  act 
of  March  2,  1907,  in  reference  to  ex- 
patriation of  citizens  and  their  protec- 
tion abroad ;  keeping  of  necessary  rec- 
ords thereunder  ;  conduct  of  correspond- 
ence in  relation  to.  the  foregoing. 

BUREAU    OF    INDEXES    AND    ARCHIVES 

Recording  and  indexing  the  general 
correspondence  of  the  department; 
charge  of  the  archives. 

BUREAU   OF  ACCOUNTS 

Custody  and  disbursement  of  appro- 
priations and  indemnity  funds,  and  cor- 
respondence relating  thereto. 

BUREAU   OF   ROLLS    AND   LIBRARY 

Custody  of  the  rolls,  treaties,  etc. ; 
promulgation  of  the  laws,  treaties,  Ex- 
ecutive orders  and  proclamations ;  care 
and  superintendence  of  the  library  and 
public  documents  ;  care  of  papers  relat- 
ing to  international  commissions. 

DIVISION    OF   INFORMATION 

The  preparation  and  distribution  to 
the  foreign  service  of  diplomatic,  com- 
mercial and  other  correspondence  and 
documents  important  to  their  informa- 
tion upon  foreign  relations ;  editing 
"Foreign  Relations"  of  the  United  States. 

OFFICE    OF   THE   LAW    CLERK 

Editing  and  indexing  the  laws,  resolu- 
tions, public  treaties  and  proclamations 
for  publication  in  the  Statutes  at  Large. 

SUPERINTENDENT    OF   BUILDING 

The  superintendent  of  the  State,  War 
and  Navy  Department  Building  is  the 
executive  officer  of  the  commission 
created  by  Congress,  consisting  of  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  War  and  Navy,  for 
the  government  of  this  building.  He  has 
charge  of,  care,  preservation,  repairing, 
warming,  ventilating,  lighting  and  clean- 
ing of  the  building,  grounds  and  ap- 
proaches, and  disburses  the  special  ap- 
propriations for  this  purpose ;  he  has 
charge  of  all  the  employees  of  the  build- 
ing proper,  and  appoints  them  by  direc- 
tion of  the  Secretaries. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY 


SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY 


T! 


Secre- 
tary   of    the 
Treasury     is 
charged     by     law 
with  the  manage- 
ment   of    the    na- 
tional     finances. 
He  prepares  plans 
for    the    improve- 
ment of  the  reven- 
ue and  for  the  support  of  the  public 
credit ;  superintends  the  collection  of 


the  revenue,  and  directs  the  forms  of 
keeping  and  rendering  public  ac- 
counts and  of  making  returns; 
grants  warrants  for  all  moneys 
drawn  from  the  Treasury  in  pur- 
suance of  appropriations  made  by 
law,  and  for  the  payment  of  moneys 
into  the  Treasury ;  and  annually 
submits  to  Congress  estimates  of  the 
probable  revenues  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  Government.  He  con- 
trols the  construction  and  main- 


THE   TREASURY   BUILDING,    WASHINGTON,    D.    0. 


Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


494 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


tenance  of  public  buildings,  the 
coinage  and  printing  of  money,  the 
administration  of  the  Coast  Guard 
and  the  Public  Health  branches  of 
the  public  service.  He  is  ex-offlcio 
chairman  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board  created  by  act  approved  De- 
cember 23,  1913,  known  as  the 
"Federal  Reserve  Act." 

There  are  three  Assistant  Secre- 
taries in  charge  of  the  bureaus  and 
divisions  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. One  has  charge  of  Public 
Health  Service,  Supervising  Archi- 
tect's Office,  the  selection  of  sites  for 
public  buildings,  Coast  Guard,  Ap- 
pointment Division,  General  Supply 
Committee,  Section  of  Surety  Bonds 
and  all  unassigned  business  of  the 
Department. 

To  the  Assistant  Secretary  in 
charge  of  fiscal  bureaus  is  assigned 
general  supervision  of  all  matters 
relating  to  the  Office  of  the  Comp- 


troller of  the  Currency,  the  Office 
of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  the  Bureau  of  Internal  Reve- 
nue, the  Bureau  of  the  Mint,  the 
Office  of  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  the  Auditors  of  the  sev- 
eral departments,  the  Register  of 
the  Treasury,  the  Bureau  of  En- 
graving and  Printing,  the  Division 
of  Bookkeeping  and  Warrants,  the 
Division  of  Loans  and  Currency,  the 
Division  of  Mail  and  Files,  the  Divi- 
sion of  Printing  and  Stationery,  the 
Division  of  Public  Moneys,  the  Se- 
cret-Service Division,  the  Federal 
Farm  Loan  Board,  and  the  Office  of 
the  Disbursing  Clerk. 

To  the  Assistant  Secretary  in 
charge  of  customs  is  assigned  the 
general  supervision  of  the  Division 
of  Customs,  of  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  Customs  Service,  and  the 
Bureau  of  War-Risk  Insurance,  as 
referred  to  later  on. 


CHIEF    CLERK 


The  chief  clerk  is  the  chief  ex- 
ecutive officer  of  the  Secretary,  and, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary 
and  Assistant  Secretaries,  is  charged 
with  the  enforcement  of  depart- 
mental regulations  general  in  their 
nature;  is  by  law  superintendent  of 
the  Treasury  Building  and  other  re- 
lated buildings  and  rolling  stock 
belonging  to  the  department;  the 
direction  of  engineers,  watchmen, 
firemen,  etc.,  connected  with  the 
maintenance  and  protection  of  the 
Treasury  buildings,  etc. ;  the  ex- 
penditure of  appropriations  for  con- 
tingent expenses ;  the  administrative 


control  of  appropriations  made  for 
Government  exhibits  at  various  ex- 
positions; the  supervision  and  gen- 
eral administration  of  the  General 
Supply  Committee ;  handles  offers  in 
compromise  cases ;  the  custody  of 
the  records,  files  and  library  of  the 
Secretary's  office ;  the  custody  of  all 
sites  for  proposed  buildings  in 
Washington;  the  checking  of  all 
mail  relating  to  the  personnel  of  the 
Treasury  Department ;  the  handling 
of  requests  for  certified  copies  of 
official  papers,  and  the  charge  of  all 
business  of  the  Secretary's  office 
which  is  not  otherwise  assigned. 


COMPTROLLER    OF    THE    CURRENCY 


The  Comptroller  of  the  Currency 
is  the  chief  officer  of  that  bureau  of 
the  Treasury  Department  which  is 
charged  with  the  execution  of  all 
laws  passed  by  Congress  relating  to 
the  issue  and  regulation  of  the  na- 
tional currency,  generally  known  as 
national  bank  notes,  secured  by 
United  States  bonds ;  and  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board  is  also  in  charge  of  the  issue 


of  circulating  notes  to  Federal  Re- 
serve banks. 

In  addition  to  these  powers  the 
Comptroller  exercises  general  super- 
vision over  all  national  banks 
throughout  the  United  States,  in- 
cluding Alaska  and  Hawaii,  in  the 
matter  of  their  organization  and 
regulation.  He  is  vested  with  the 
power  to  appoint  receivers  and  to 
enforce  penalties  prescribed  for 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY 


495 


SEPARATING   CHARRED   BANK   BILLS 


violations  of  the  national  bank  act. 
Under  the  Federal  Reserve  act  he 
executed  and  issued  the  certificates 
or  charters  for  the  Federal  Reserve 
banks.  The  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
rency is  ex  officio  a  member  of  the 
Federal  Reserve  Board. 

Reports  of  condition  of  all  na- 
tional banks  are  made  to  the  Comp- 
troller not  less  frequently  than  five 
times  a  year,  by  the  banks,  and  also 


periodically    by    the    national    bank 
examiners  appointed  by  him. 

His  powers  are  exercised  under 
the  general  supervision  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  but  under 
the  law  his  annual  report  is  made 
direct  to  Congress ;  all  other  bureaus 
of  the  Treasury  Department  report 
to  Congress  through  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  these  reports 
are  printed. 


TREASURER  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES 


The  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States  receives  and  keeps  the 
moneys  of  the  United  States  and 
disburses  the  same  upon  war- 
rants drawn  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  countersigned  by  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  and  not 
otherwise.  He  takes  receipts  for  all 
moneys  paid  by  him  and  gives  re- 
ceipts for  all  moneys  received,  and 
all  receipts  for  moneys  received  by 
him  shall  be  endorsed  upon  warrants 
signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, without  which  warrant  so 
signed,  no  acknowledgment  for 


money  received  into  the  public 
Treasury  shall  be  valid.  He  renders 
his  accounts  to  the  Comptroller  of 
the  Treasury  quarterly,  or  oftener  if 
required,  and  transmits  copies  there- 
of, when  settled,  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  The  moneys  in  his 
hands  are  at  all  times  subject  to  the 
inspection  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  and  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury.  The  Treasurer  makes  a 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury every  30th  of  June,  showing 
the  condition  of  all  of  the  several 
accounts. 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


COMMISSIONER   OF    INTERNAL   REVENUE 


The  Commissioner  of  Internal 
Revenue  has  general  superintend- 
ence of  the  collection  of  all  in- 
ternal-revenue taxes,  the  enforce- 
ment of  internal-revenue  laws,  ap- 
pointment of  internal-revenue  em- 


ployees, compensation  and  duties  of 
gangers,  storekeepers  and  other 
subordinate  officers ;  the  preparation 
and  distribution  of  stamps,  instruc- 
tions, regulations,  forms,  blanks, 
hydrometers,  stationery,  etc. 


TESTING   ALCOHOLIC 


DIRECTOR   OF    THE    MINT* 


Five  coinage  mints  have  been 
established  in  different  sections 
of  the  country,  of  which  two, 
located  at  New  Orleans,  La.,  and 
Carson  City,  Nev.,  now  operate  only 
as  Assay  Offices.  The  Mints  now 
engaged  in  coinage  operations  are 
located  at  Philadelphia,  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Denver,  that  at  Phila- 
delphia being  the  largest.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  Assay  Offices  located  at 


New  Orleans,  La.,  and  Carson  City, 
Nev.,  the  Government  maintains  six 
others,  located  at  New  York  City, 
Seattle,  Wash.;  Deadwood,  S.  D. ; 
Boise,  Idaho ;  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 
and  Helena,  Montana. 

Tho  headquarters  of  the  Mint  Ser- 
vice are  in  the  Treasury  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  known  as  the 
Bureau  of  the  Mint.  This  consists 
of  the  office  of  the  Director  of  the 


*The  subject  of   the  assay   of  coins,   bullion,   etc.,   and   the   minting  of   money 
forms  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  first  part  of  this  book.     (Pages  309  to  320.) 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY 


497 


Mint,  an  assay  laboratory  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  the  weight  and 
fineness  of  the  coins  made  at  the 
several  mints,  and  a  clerical  force 
which,  under  the  Director  of  the 
Mint,  reviews  the  accounts  of  the 
various  institutions,  prepares  for 
publication,  quarterly,  an  estimate 
of  the  value  of  the  standard  coins 
of  foreign  countries  for  custom 
house  and  other  public  purposes, 
and  works  up  the  statistical  data 
for  the  annual  report  of  the 
Director  on  the  operations  of  the 
Mint  Service  for  the  fiscal  year, 
including  also  statistics  of  the  pro- 
duction of  precious  metals  in  the 
United  States  and  the  world  for  the 
calendar  year. 


ceipts  of  the  precious  metals  to  the 
Mints  to  be  coined.  Much  of  the 
metal  is  not  suitable  for  immediate 
coinage,  and  refineries  are  main- 
tained at  the  Mints  at  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Denver  and  the  Assay 
Office  at  New  York  City  to  purify 
the  metal.  Such  of  it  as  may  be 
needed  for  coinage  is  then  alloyed 
with  copper,  the  proportions  being 
nine  parts  of  gold  or  silver  to  one 
part  of  copper,  making  what  is 
known  as  900  fine  or  "standard" 
metal,  which  has  been  found  most 
suitable  for  coins,  the  pure  gold  or 
silver  being  comparatively  soft,  and 
subject  to  appreciable  abrasion  or 
wear.  Minor  coins  are  manufactur- 
ed from  nickel  and  bronze,  the 


MONEY   OF   ALL    KINDS    IS   TRANSPORTED    IN    HEAVILY    GUARDED    TRUCKS 


The  Mints  and  Assay  Offices  have 
been  established  in  localities  suit- 
able for  the  convenient  acquisition 
of  gold  and  silver  by  the  Government 
for  the  purpose  of  coinage.  Gold 
and  silver  bullion  is  received  and 
paid  for  at  its  exact  valuation  (the 
price  of  gold  remaining  stationary, 
while  that  of  silver  fluctuates)  and 
the  Assay  Offices  forward  their  re- 


stocks of  the  necessary  metals  being 
bought  in  the  open  market  as  re- 
quired. 

As  the  stock  of  gold  in  the  coun- 
try has  accumulated  far  beyond  the 
needs  for  that  metal  as  a  circulating 
medium,  it  has  been  found  most  con- 
venient and  economical,  after  filling 
the  yearly  demands  for  new  gold 
coin,  to  melt  the  balance  of  this 


498 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


precious  metal  into  bars  of  uniform 
and  convenient  size,  to  be  stored 
in  the  vaults  of  the  mints  and  held 
as  a  reserve  against  which  gold  cer- 
tificates may  be  issued. 

New  coin  usually  gets  into  cir- 
culation through  the  Disbursing  Of- 
fice of  the  Treasury  Department  and 
banking  institutions  in  exchange  for 
the  larger  denominations  of  money. 

The  mints  manufacture  not  only 
all  of  the  domestic  coin,  but  also 


the  coinage  for  the  Philippine  Isl- 
ands and,  as  their  business  permits, 
such  of  the  coinage  of  adjacent  coun- 
tries as  it  is  found  expedient  and 
practicable  to  handle. 

At  the  Philadelphia  Mint  there  is 
maintained  a  complete  engraving 
and  medal-making  establishment, 
where  are  manufactured  all  dies 
.used  in  the  domestic  and  Philip- 
pine coinage,  and  also  dies  and  med- 
als of  a  national  character. 


COMPTROLLER   OF    THE    TREASURY 


The  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  prescribes  the 
forms  of  keeping  and  rendering  all 
public  accounts  except  those  relat- 
ing to  postal  revenues  and  the  ex- 
penditures therefrom.  He  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  revising  accounts 
upon  appeal  from  settlements  made 
by  the  auditors.  Upon  the  applica- 
tion of  disbursing  officers,  the  head 
of  any  executive  department,  or 
other  independent  establishment  not 
under  any  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments, the  Comptroller  is  required  to 
render  his .  advance  decision  upon 
any  question  involving  a  payment 
to  be  made  by  them  or  under  them, 
which  decision,  when  rendered,  gov- 
erns the  auditor  and  the  Comptrol- 
ler in  the  settlement  of  the  account 
involving  the  payment  inquired 
about.  He  is  required  to  approve, 
disapprove,  or  modify  all  decisions 
by  auditors  making  an  original  con- 
struction or  modifying  an  existing 
construction  of  statutes,  and  certify 
his  action  to  the  auditor  whose  du- 
ties are  affected  thereby.  Under  his 
direction  the  several  auditors  super- 
intend the  recovery  of  all  debts 
finally  certified  by  them,  respect- 
ively, to  be  due  the  United  States, 
except  those  arising  under  the  Post 
Office  Department.  He  superin- 
tends the  preservation  by  the 
auditors  of  all  accounts  which  have 
been  finally  adjusted  by  them,  to- 
gether with  the  vouchers  and  certifi- 
cates relating  to  the  same.  He  is 


required,  on  his  own  motion,  when 
in  the  interests  of  the  Government, 
to  revise  any  account  settled  by  any 
auditor.  In  any  case  where,  in  his 
opinion,  the  interests  of  the  Govern- 
ment require,  he  may  direct  any  of 


PORTICO  OF  THE  TREASURY 

the  auditors  forthwith  to  audit  and 
settle  any  particular  account  pend- 
ing before  the  said  auditor  for  set- 
tlement. It  is  his  duty  to  counter- 
sign all  warrants  authorized  by  law 
to  be  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 


DEPARTMENT    OF   THE    TREASURY 


499 


REGISTER    OF    THE   TREASURY 


The  Register  of  the  Treasury  signs 
all  bonds  of  the  United  States,  'the 
bonds  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
the  Philippine  Islands,  the  city  of 
Manila,  the  City  of  Cebu,  and  the 
Porto  Rican  gold  loans,  and  keeps 
records  showing  the  daily  outstand- 
ing balances  thereof.  He  certifies 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  the  Auditor  for  the  Treas- 
ury, and  the  Loans  and  Currency 
Division,  Secretary's  Office,  the  in- 


terest due  on  United  States  loans 
at  interest  periods ;  also  gives  an 
administrative  examination  to  paid 
interest  checks  received  from  the 
Treasurer,  and  transmits  the  same 
to  the  Auditor  for  the  Treasury.  He 
examines  and  records  all  paid  inter- 
est coupons  and  all  other  United 
States  securities  redeemed,  and  keeps 
records  of  the  outstanding  principal 
and  interest  of  the  bonded  indebted- 
ness of  the  Government. 


$500,000  IN  NOTES   ON   A   TRUCK 


BUREAU    OF    ENGRAVING    AND    PRINTING* 


The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing  designs,  engraves,  prints 
and  finishes  all  of  the  securities  and 
other  similar  work  of  the  Govern- 
ment, embracing  United  States 
notes,  bonds,  and  certificates,  Na- 
tional Bank  notes,  Federal  Reserve 
notes,  internal-revenue,  postage  and 
customs  stamps,  Treasury  drafts 


and  checks,  disbursing  officers' 
checks,  licenses,  commissions,  patent 
and  pension  certificates,  and  por- 
traits authorized  by  law  of  deceased 
Members  of  Congress  and  other  pub- 
lic officers ;  also  all  postage  stamps 
and  all  securities  issued  by  the  Bu- 
reau of  Insular  Affairs  to  our  insular 
possessions. 


*A    special    chapter    by    Director    Ralph    will    be    found    in    the    first    part    of 
this  book  and  is  filled  with  interesting  facts  and  pictures.     (See  pages  299  to  307.) 


500 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


THE    UNITED    STATES    PUBLIC    HEALTH    SERVICE 
By   RUPERT   BLUE,    Surgeon-General 


T! 


United 
States  Pub- 
lic Health 
Service  was 
created  as  the 
United  States 
Marine  Hospital 
Service  by  the  act 
approved  July  16, 
1798.  It  contin- 
ued as  the  United 

States  Marine  Hospital  Service  until 
July  1,  1902,  when  Congress  changed 
the  name  to  that  of  the  Public  Health 
and  Marine  Hospital  Service  of  the 
United  States.  The  act  approved 
August  14,  1912,  further  changed  the 
name  of  the  Service  to  that  of  the 
Public  Health  Service,  and  greatly 
increased  its  powers  and  functions. 
As  originally  created  the  United 
States  Marine  Hospital  Service  had 
for  its  function  the  medical  and 
surgical  relief  of  the  sick  and  in- 
jured seamen  of  the  merchant  mar- 
ine and  the  Navy.  The  organic  act 
placed  the  Marine  Hospital  Service 
in  the  Treasury  Department,  where 
it  has  continued  to  remain  as  a 
bureau.  The  organic  act  was  amend- 
ed by  the  acts  of  March  2,  1799. 
May  5,  1802,  February  26,  1811,  and 
July  29,  1870.  As  at  present  organ- 
ized the  Bureau  of  the  Public  Health 
Service  is  situated  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  and  comprises  seven  divisions, 
the  operations  of  which  are  co-ordi- 
nated and  each  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  the  Surgeon  General. 
An  Assistant  Surgeon  General  is  in 
charge  of  each  of  these  divisions,  ex- 
cepting the  miscellaneous  division. 

Through  the  Division  of  Marine 
Hospitals  and  Relief  professional 
care  is  taken  of  sick  and  disabled 
seamen  at  twenty-two  marine  hospi- 
tals and  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  other  relief  stations.  The  bene- 
ficiaries include  officers  and  crews  of 
registered,  enrolled,  or  licensed  ves- 
sels of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
Coast  Guard  and  Lighthouse  Ser- 


vice; seamen  employed  on  vessels 
of  the  Mississippi  River  Commission, 
and  of  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the 
Army;  keepers  and  surfmen  of  the 
Coast  Guard.  A  purveying  depot  for 
the  purchase  and  issuance  of  sup- 
plies is  maintained  at  Washington. 
Physical  examinations  of  officers  and 
seamen  and  keepers  and  surfmen  of 
the  Coast  Guard  and  the  examina- 
tions for  the  detection  of  color- 
blindness in  masters,  mates,  and 
pilots  are  conducted  through  this  di- 
vision, and  the  medical  evidence  of 
disability  in  claims  for  benefits 
against  the  Coast  Guard  are  re- 
viewed. 

Through  the  Division  of  Domestic 
(Interstate)  Quarantine  is  enforced 
Section  3  of  the  act  of  February  15, 
1893,  relating  to  the  prevention  of 
the  spread  of  contagious  or  infec- 
tious diseases  from  one  State  or 
Territory  into  another.  The  control 
of  the  interstate  spread  of  disease 
is  effected  by  the  Interstate  Quar- 
antine Regulations,  compiled  by  this 
division.  These  regulations  prohibit 
the  carrying  of  persons  afflicted  with 
contagious  diseases  by  interstate 
carriers  and  provide  the  conditions 
under  which  certain  other  infected 
persons  may  be  transported.  They 
provide  that  the  vehicles  of  these 
carriers  be  maintained  in  a  sani- 
tary condition  and  that  water  fur- 
nished thereon  shall  conform  to 
the  bacteriological  standard  for 
drinking  water  supplied  to  the 
public  by  common  carriers  in  in- 
terstate traffic  as  adopted  by  the 
Treasury  Department  on  October  21. 
1914.  For  the  enforcement  and  ad- 
ministration of  these  regulations  the 
country  has  been  divided  into  twelve 
Interstate  Sanitary  Districts,  each 
under  the  direction  of  this  division. 
Laboratories  have  been  established 
at  central  cities  in  these  districts 
and  an  officer  of  the  Public  Health 
Service  placed  in  each.  The  educa- 
tion of  the  general  public  in  hygiene 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY 


501 


and  sanitation  is  conducted  by  the 
Domestic  Quarantine  Division  by 
means  of  lectures,  the  loan  of  stere- 
opticon  slides  to  physicians,  welfare 
workers,  educators,  etc.,  by  exhibits, 
such  as  at  the  Panama  Pacific  In- 
ternational Exposition  and  on  the 
Government  Safety  First  Train,  and 
by  press  items  issued  to  about  8,000 
newspapers.  Sanitary  and  relief 
work  in  Alaska,  hospitals  and  sani- 
tary work  at  international  exposi- 


ing  thereto.  He  has  control  of  fifty- 
five  Federal  quarantine  stations  in 
the  United  States,  and  others  in  the 
Philippines,  Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico, 
and  supervises  the  medical  officers 
detailed  in  the  offices  of  the  Ameri- 
can consular  officers  at  foreign  ports 
to  prevent  the  introduction  of  con- 
tagious or  infectious  diseases  into 
the  United  States.  Under  section 
17  of  the  act  approved  February  20, 
1907,  he  has  supervision  over  the 


EXAMINING  AN  ALIEN  AT  ELLIS  ISLAND  BY  MENTAL  TESTS 


tions,  inspection  of  Government 
buildings  for  sanitary  defects,  and 
the  important  duty  of  the  suppres- 
sion of  epidemics  come  within  the 
scope  of  this  division. 

Through  the  Division  of  Foreign 
and  Insular  Quarantine  and  Immi- 
gration the  Surgeon  General  en- 
forces the  national  quarantine  laws 
and  prepares  the  regulations  relat- 


medical  officers  engaged  in  the  physi- 
cal and  mental  examinations  of  all 
arriving  aliens. 

In  the  Division  of  Personnel  and 
Accounts  are  kept  the  records  of  the 
officers  and  of  the  expenditures  of 
the  appropriations. 

The  Division  of  Sanitary  Reports 
and  Statistics  collects  and  publishes 
information  regarding  the  prevalence 


502 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


and  geographic  distribution  of  dis- 
eases dangerous  to  the  public  health 
in  the  United  States  and  foreign 
countries.  Court  decisions,  laws, 
regulations,  and  ordinances  pertain- 
ing to  the  public  health  are  compiled, 
digested  and  published.  Its  publi- 
cations contain  articles  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  public  health.  This 
division  issues  the  Public  Health  Re- 
ports (weekly)  and  Supplements  to, 
and  Reprints  from,  the  Public 
Health  Reports. 

The  Division  of  Scientific  Re- 
search conducts  the  scientific  investi- 
gations of  the  service.  Intensive 
studies  of  diseases  of  man,  including 
hookworm  diseases,  'malaria,  pel- 
lagra, trachoma,  typhoid  fever,  and 
tuberculosis,  of  school,  mental,  and 
industrial  hygiene,  of  rural  sanita- 
tion, of  public  health  administration, 
of  water  supplies  and  sewage,  and 
of  coastal  waters  are  carried  on 
from  special  headquarters  in  the 
field  in  co-operation  with  State  and 
local  health  authorities.  Technical 
and  purely  laboratory  studies  are 
conducted  at  the  Hygienic  Labora- 
tory in  Washington,  at  special  field 
laboratories,  and  at  the  leprosy  in- 
vestigation station  in  Hawaii.  In- 
formation thus  obtained  is  dissem- 
inated through  publications,  cor- 
respondence, lectures,  and  confer- 


ences with  health  authorities  con- 
cerning the  results  of  field  studies 
in  their  jurisdictions.  Through  the 
division  the  department  enforces  the 
act  of  July  1,  1902,  "to  regulate  the 
sale  of  viruses,  serums,  etc."  The 
Surgeon  General  is  required  by  law 
to  call  an  annual  conference  of 
State  and  territorial  health  author- 
ities, and  special  conferences  may 
also  be  called  at  any  time.  For  ad- 
vice in  respect  to  scientific  investi- 
gations he  may  convene  the  advisory 
board  of  the  Hygienic  Laboratory. 

Through  the  Miscellaneous  Di- 
vision the  various  service  publica- 
tions are  issued,  including  the  an- 
nual reports,  public  health  reports, 
supplements,  and  reprints,  public 
health  bulletins  of  the  Hygiene  Lab- 
oratory, and  miscellaneous  publica- 
tions on  health  topics. 

The  commissioned  corps  of  the 
United  States  Public  Health  Service 
on  July  1,  1916,  consisted  of  the  Sur- 
geon General,  6  Assistant  Surgeon 
Generals,  1  Assistant  Surgeon  Gen- 
eral at  large,  13  senior  surgeons, 
72  surgeons,  37  passed  assistant  sur- 
geons, and  70  assistant  surgeons.  In 
addition  there  are  scientific  assist- 
ants, consisting  of  acting  assistant 
surgeons,  epidemiologists,  internes 
at  marine  hospitals,  pharmacists, 
etc. 


UNITED    STATES    COAST    GUARD* 
By  CAPTAIN  COMMANDANT  E.  P.  BERTHOLF 


The  Captain  Commandant  of 
the  Coast  Guard  is  charged  by 
law  with  the  administration  of  the 
Coast  Guard,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Headquarters  are  located  at  the 
Treasury  Department  The  act  of 
January  28,  1915,  provided  that  the 
Coast  Guard  be  created  in  lieu  of 
the  then  existing  Revenue-Cutter 
Service  and  the  Life- Saving  Service, 
and  to  be  composed  of  those  two 
organizations.  It  also  provided  that 
it  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  mili- 


tary forces  of  the  United  States, 
and  shall  operate  under  the  Treas- 
ury Department  in  time  of  peace 
and  as  a  part  of  the  Navy,  subject 
to  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  in  time  of  war,  or  when  the 
President  shall  so  direct. 

In  general  the  duties  of  the  Coast 
Guard  may  be  classified  as  follows: 
Rendering  assistance  to  vessels  in 
distress  and  saving  life  and  prop- 
erty; destruction  or  removal  of 
wrecks,  derelicts,  and  other  floating 
dangers  to  navigation ;  extending 


*This  subject  is  so  important  that  it  forms  a   chapter  in  the  first  part  with 
thouses  under  the  title  of  "Government  Protection  of  Life  and  Property  at  Sea." 


Lighthouses 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY 


503 


ICEBERG  SIGHTED  BY  THE  "SENECA"  ON  JUNE  8,   1916,  IN  LATITUDE  42.35  NORTH, 
LONGITUDE    49.36    WEST 


medical  aid  to  American  vessels  en- 
gaged in  deep-sea  fisheries;  protec- 
tion of  the  customs  revenue;  oper- 
ating as  a  part  of  the  Navy  in  time 
of  war  or  when  the  President  shall 
direct ;  enforcement  of  law  and  regu- 
lations governing  anchorage  of  ves- 
sels in  navigable  waters ;  enforce- 
ment of  law  relating  to  quarantine 
and  neutrality;  suppression  of  mu- 
tinies on  merchant  vessels ;  enforce- 
ment of  navigation  and  other  laws 
governing  merchant  vessels  and  mo- 
tor boats;  enforcement  of  law  to 
provide  for  safety  of  life  on  navi- 
gable waters  during  regattas  and 
marine  parades;  protection  of  game 
and  the  seal  and  other  fisheries  in 
Alaska,  etc. ;  enforcement  of  sponge- 
fishing  laws. 

To  assist  the  Captain  Command- 
ant in  conducting  the  business  of 
his  office  there  are  established  the 
following  divisions: 

Division  of  Operations — Having 
cognizance  of  matters  relating  to  the 
personnel  and  operations  of  the 
service. 

Division  of  Material — Having  cog- 
nizance of  matters  relating  to  sup- 
plies, outfits,  equipment,  accounts, 
and  the  files'. 

Division  of  Construction  and  Re- 
pair— Having  cognizance  of  matters 


relating  to  the  construction  of  and 
repairs  to  the  hulls  of  vessels  and 
boats,  stations,  wharves,  and  all 
other  property. 

Division  of  Engineering — Having 
cognizance  of  matters  relating  to 
the  construction  of  and  repairs  to 
the  motive  power  of  vessels  and 
boats  and  the  machinery  of  all  other 
property. 

Division  of  Inspection — Having 
cognizance  of  matters  relating  to  the 
inspection  of  vessels,  stations,  boats, 
and  all  other  property. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Cap- 
tain Commandant  statistics  are  pre- 
pared regarding  the  loss  of  life  and 
property  on  account  of  wrecked  ves- 
sels in  American  waters.  He  is  also 
required  to  acquaint  himself,  as  far 
as  practicable,  with  all  means  em- 
ployed in  foreign  countries  which 
may  seem  to  affect  advantageously 
the  interests  of  the  Coast  Guard, 
and  to  cause  to  be  properly  investi- 
gated all  plans,  devices,  and  inven- 
tions for  the  improvement  of  life- 
saving  apparatus  for  use  at  the  sta- 
tions which  may  appear  to  be  meri- 
torious and  available.  This  is  ac- 
complished through  the  medium  of 
the  Board  on  Life- Saving  Appliances, 
which  meets  annually  at  Boston, 
Mass.,  for  that  purpose. 


OFFICE    OF    THE    SUPERVISING    ARCHITECT 


Under  the  direction  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  the  Supervis- 
ing Architect  acquires  the  sites  and 
designs,  constructs,  equips,  supplies, 


operates  and  repairs  United  States 
public  buildings  generally,  marine 
hospitals  and  quarantine  stations, 
and  wharves,  bridges,  roads,  sewers, 


504 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


etc.,  in  connection  therewith.  When 
specially  authorized  by  law  plans 
are  obtained  by  competition  among 
private  architects.  The  Super- 
vising Architect's  Office  was  organ- 
ized in  1853.  Until  1861  an  Army 
Engineer  had  charge  of  construc- 
tion work;  since  then  Supervising 
Architect  in  sole  charge.  Present 
organization:  Supervising  Architect, 
the  Executive  Officer,  directing  the 
administrative  phases  of  the  work 
and  in  charge  of  the  Accounts, 
Maintenance,  Repairs,  and  Files 
and  Records  Divisions,  and  Cus- 
todians' and  Janitors'  field  force; 
the  Technical  Officer,  directing  the 
architectural  and  engineering  work 
and  in  charge  of  the  Drafting, 
Structural,  Mechanical  and  Elec- 
trical Engineering,  and  Computing 
Divisions,  Public  Information  Room, 
Duplicating  and  Photograph  Gal- 
leries, and  the  Construction  field 
force.  Board  of  Award,  composed 
of  Supervising  Architect,  Executive 
Officer,  Technical  Officer  and  Super- 
intendent of  Drafting  Division, 
passes  upon  and  recommends  all  im- 
portant expenditures  (except  for 
land). 

Building  work  usually  done  by 
contract.  Furniture  and  supplies 
generally  obtained  from  manufac- 
turers upon  blanket  annual  con- 
tracts. Awards  are  to  lowest  best 
bidder,  after  advertising  and  public 
opening  of  bids.  Supervising  Archi- 
tect approves  materials  and  per- 
formance. Materials  are  tested  by 


the  National  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Department  orders  land  purchases 
and  all  expenditures  from  $500  up- 
wards. Funds  disbursed  from 
Washington  mainly.  Each  project 
supervised  by  resident  superintend- 
ent ;  each  finished  building  in  charge 
of  custodian.  Operating  force  and 
field  force  overseen  by  traveling 
inspectors. 

In  1853  the  Supervising  Architect 
had  charge  of  15  completed  build- 
ings and  28  to  be  constructed.  In 
1916  there  are  1,073  completed  pub- 
lic1 buildings,  branch  mints,  assay 
offices,  marine  hospitals  and  quaran- 
tine stations;  117  separate  projects 
under  construction,  301  projects  au- 
thorized, but  not  yet  under  con- 
struction ;  and  164  sites  only  (ac- 
quired or  to  be  acquired)  for  which 
no  buildings  have  yet  been  author- 
ized. 

The  present  headquarters  force 
(quartered  on  the  top  floor  of  the 
Treasury  Building)  numbers  246. 
Field  forces:  Construction,  124; 
Operating  force,  about  5,000.  The 
whole  force  of  architects,  engineers, 
draftsmen,  computers,  superintend- 
ents, inspectors,  lawyers,  account- 
ants, stenographers,  clerks,  mechan- 
ics, janitors,  etc.,  is  within  the 
classified  civil  service. 

For  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
30,  1915,  the  expenditures  were : 

Sites    $1,288,597.04 

Construction   11,477,120.40 

Repairs,  etc 1,347,303.67 

Supplies  and  Operation...  5,951,546.99 


UNITED    STATES    BUREAU    OF    WAR   RISK    INSURANCE 
By  DIRECTOR  WILLIAM  C.  DE  LANOY 


The  Bureau  of  War  Risk  Insur- 
ance was  created  by  Act  of  Con- 
gress on  September  2nd,  1914,  to 
cover  American  vessels  and  their 
cargoes  against  the  risks  of  war. 
It  was  to  expire  September  2nd, 
1916,  but  on  August  llth,  1916,  was 
extended  for  a  period  of  one  year. 

During  the  two  years  of  this 
Bureau's  existence  it  has  covered 
war  risk  insurance  on  many  vessels 
and  cargoes  where  the  market  was 


small  and  without  the  assistance 
which  was  granted  by  the  Bureau 
many  of  these  vessels  could  not 
have  sailed. 

From  September  2nd,  1914,  to 
September  2nd,  1916,  the  Bureau 
issued  1,590  policies  insuring  ships 
and  cargoes  of  a  value  of  $145,831,- 
602,  for  which  the  Government  re- 
ceived in  premiums  $3,000,926.83, 
with  a  known  loss  to  date  of  only 
$771,329.57,  reduced  through  salvage 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY  505 

by  the  sum  of  $58,811.42,   reducing  months,  have  been  $34,882.47.     The 

the  net  loss  to  $712,518.15.  Bureau  has  a  list  of  ports  to  which 

The  expenses  attending  the  con-  the  rates  are  not  made  public,  but 

duct  of  the   Bureau   up  to  August  may  be  had  upon  application  to  the 

31st,  1916,  a  period  of  twenty-three  Bureau. 

AUDITOR    FOR   THE   TREASURY    DEPARTMENT 

The  Auditor  for  the  Treasury  Depart-  enue,  Treasurer  and  assistant  treasurers, 
ment  receives  ami  settles  all  accounts  of  mints  and  assay  offices,  Bureau  of  En- 
the  Department  of  the  Treasury,  includ-  graving  and  Printing,  Coast  Guard,  Pub- 
ing  all  accounts  relating  to  the  customs  lie  Health  Service,  Farm  Loan  Board, 
service,  the  public  debt,  internal  rev-  public  buildings  and  Secret  Service. 

AUDITOR   FOR   THE    WAR   DEPARTMENT 

The  Auditor  for  the  War  Department  teries,  fortifications,  public  buildings  and 

receives   and  settles  all  accounts  of  the  grounds    under    the    supervision    of    the 

Department  of  War,  including  those  re-  Chief  of  Engineers,   rivers  and   harbors, 

lating     to     the     military     establishment,  the  Military  Academy   and  the   Panama 

armories    and    arsenals,    national    ceme-  Canal. 

AUDITOR    FOR   THE   INTERIOR   DEPARTMENT 

All  claims  and  accounts  arising  under  of    Mines,    Patent   Office,    Capitol    Build- 

the    Department   of   the    Interior,   which  ing  and    Grounds,    Freedmen's   Hospital, 

includes    those    having    relation    to    the  Howard    University,     Columbia     Institu- 

protection,    survey    and    sale    of    public  tion  for  the  Deaf,  Government  Hospital 

and    Indian    lands,    the    reclamation    of  for    the    Insane,    Hot    Springs    Reserva- 

arid  public  and  Indian  lands,  Army  and  tion,    the    Yosemite    and    other    national 

Navy  pensions,  Indian  affairs,  Geological  parks,  and  the  construction  of  railroads 

Survey,    Bureau    of    Education,    Bureau  in  Alaska,  are  settled  in  this  office. 

AUDITOR    FOR   THE  NAVY    DEPARTMENT 

The  Auditor  for  the  Navy  Department  accounts    relating   to    the    Naval    Estab- 

receives  and  settles  all  accounts  of  the  lishment,   Marine   Corps   and   the   Naval 

Department   of   the   Navy,   including  all  Academy. 

AUDITOR    FOR   THE    STATE  AND   OTHER   DEPARTMENTS 

The  Auditor  for  the  State  and  Other  ing  governmental  establishments :  Gov- 
Departments  receives  and  settles  the  ac-  ernment  Printing  Office  ;  Interstate  Coin- 
counts  of  the  White  House :  the  two  merce  Commission ;  Smithsonian  Institu- 
Houses  of  Congress  ;  the  Supreme  Court ;  tion  and  National  Museum  ;  District  of 
the  Departments  of  State,  including  the  Columbia ;  Civil  Service  Commission  ; 
expenses  of  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  the  Federal  Reserve  Board  ;  the  Federal 
Service ;  Justice,  covering  expenses  of  Trade  Commission  ;  and  all  boards,  coin- 
United  States  courts  ;  Agriculture,  in-  missions  and  establishments  of  the  Gov- 
cluding  its  field  service ;  Commerce ;  ernment  not  under  the  administration 
Labor ;  also  the  accounts  of  the  follow-  of  any  executive  department. 

AUDITOR    FOR   THE    POST    OFFICE   DEPARTMENT 

The  Auditor  for  the  Post  Office  De-  upon  the  Treasury  issued  in  liquidation 
partment  receives  and  examines  all  ac-  of  indebtedness ;  superintends  the  col- 
counts  of  the  office  of  the  Postmaster  lecting  of  debts  due  the  United  States 
General  and  of  all  bureaus  and  offices  for  the  service  of  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
under  his  direction ;  all  postal  and  ment  and  all  penalties  imposed ;  directs 
money  order  accounts  of  postmasters  suits  and  all  legal  proceedings  in  ciTil 
and  foreign  administrations ;  all  ac-  actions ;  and  takes  all  legal  measures 
counts  relating  to  the  transportation  of  to  enforce  the  payment  of  money  due 
mails,  and  to  all  other  business  within  the  United  States  for  the  service  of  the 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Post  Office  De-  Post  Office  Department,  and  for  this 
partment ;  and  certifies  the  balances  purpose  has  direct  official  relations  with 
arising  thereon  to  the  Postmaster  Gen-  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  Depart- 
eral  for  accounts  of  the  postal  revenue  ment  of  Justice.  He  receives  and  ac- 
and  expenditures  therefrom,  and  to  the  cepts,  with  the  written  consent  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  other  ac-  Postmaster  General,  offers  of  compro- 
counts.  He  also  receives  and  examines  raise  under  sections  295  and  409,  Revised 
reports  and  accounts  of  postmasters  Statutes.  He  is  required  to  submit  to 
operating  postal  savings  banks,  and  ac-  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  quarterly 
counts  for  expenditures  from  the  appro-  statements  of  postal  receipts  and  ex- 
priation  for  continuing  the  establish-  penditures,  and  to  report  to  the  Post- 
ment,  maintenance,  and  extension  of  the  master  General  the  financial  condition 
postal  savings  depositories.  He  registers,  of  the  Post  Office  Department  at  the 
charges  and  countersigns  the  warrants  close  of  each  fiscal  year. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR*. 


SECRETARY    OF    WAR 


THE  Secretary  of  War  is  head 
of  the   War   Department,   and 
performs  such  duties  as  are  re- 
quired  of   him    by   law   or   may   be 
enjoined  upon  him  by  the  President 
concerning   the   military    service. 

He  is  charged  by  law  with  the 
supervision  of  all  estimates  of  ap- 
propriations for  the  expenses  of  the 
department,  including  the  military 
establishment;  of  all  purchases  of 
Army  supplies ;  of  all  expenditures 
for  the  support,  transportation,  and 
maintenance  of  the  Army,  and  of 
such  expenditures  of  a  civil  nature 
as  may  be  placed  by  Congress  under 
his  direction. 

He  also  has  supervision  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point  and  of  military  educa- 
tion in  the  Army,  of  the  Board  of 


Ordnance  and  Fortification,  of  the 
various  battlefield  commissions,  and 
of  the  publication  of  Official  Records 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

He  has  charge  of  all  matters  re- 
lating to  national  defense  and  sea- 
coast  fortifications,  Army  ordnance, 
river  and  harbor  improvements,  the 
prevention  of  obstruction  to  naviga- 
tion, and  the  establishment  of  har- 
bor lines ;  and  all  plans  and  loca- 
tions of  bridges  authorized  by 
Congress  to  be  constructed  over  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  United 
States  require  his  approval.  He 
also  has  charge  of  the  establishment 
or  abandonment  of  military  posts, 
and  of  all  matters  relating  to 
leases,  revocable  licenses,  and  all 
other  privileges  upon  lands  under 
the  control  of  the  War  Department. 


ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF    WAR 


To  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War 
is  assigned  the  general  direction  and 
supervision  of  all  matters  relating 
to  rivers  and  harbors  $  bridges  over 
navigable  waters  of  the  United 
States ;  leases,  revocable  licenses, 
and  all  other  privileges  upon  lands 
under  the  control  of  the  War  De- 
partment; inspections  relating  to 
the  military  establishment;  recruit- 
ing service,  discharges,  commutation 
of  rations,  courts-martial,  and  other 
questions  relating  to  enlisted  men, 
including  clemency  cases  and  mat- 
ters relating  to  prisoners  at  military 
prisons  and  penitentiaries. 


He  also  has  charge  of  routine 
matters  relating  to  the  militia ;  the 
promotion  of  rifle  practice;  the  su- 
pervision of  miscellaneous  claims 
and  accounts ;  matters  relating  to 
national  cemeteries,  boards  of  sur- 
vey, open-market  purchases,  and 
medals  of  honor. 

The  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  is 
also  vested  with  authority  to  decide 
all  cases  which  do  not  involve  ques- 
tions of  policy,  the  establishment  or 
reversal  of  precedents,  or  matters 
of  special  or  extraordinary  im- 
portance which  may  be  assigned  to 
him. 


*A  special  chapter  on  the  Army  begins  on  page  281. 
Oopyright   by   Mwm   &   Co.,    Inc. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR 


507 


ASSISTANT    AND    CHIEF    CLERK 


The  Assistant  and  Chief  Clerk  of 
the  War  Department  is  the  head  of 
the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  as  such  has  charge  of  the  rec- 
ords and  files,  and  supervision  of 
the  receipt,  distribution,  and  trans- 
mission of  the  official  mail  and  cor- 
respondence of  that  office,  and  is 
charged  with  the  administrative 
action  required  by  law  to  be  taken 
in  connection  with  the  settlement  of 
disbursing  officers'  accounts  that  do 
not  relate  to  the  different  staff  corps 


of  the  Army.  He  has  general  super- 
vision of  matters  relating  to  civi- 
lian employees  in  and  under  the 
War  Department;  printing  and 
binding  and  advertising  for  the 
War  Department  and  the  Army; 
appropriations  for  contingent  ex- 
penses, stationery,  rent  of  build- 
ings; and  the  department's  tele- 
graph and  telephone  service;  and 
performs  such  other  duties  as  may 
be  required  by  the  Secretary  of 
War. 


THE    GENERAL    STAFF    CORPS,    U.    S.    ARMY 


The  duties  of  the  General  Staff 
Corps,  as  stated  in  the  organic  act 
of  Congress  establishing  it,  are: 

OFFICE  OF  THE   CHIEF   OF   STAFF 

The  Chief  of  Staff  is  the  military 
advisor  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 
The  Office  of  the  Chief  of  Staff,  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  supervising,  co-ordinating  and 
informing  powers  conferred  upon 
him  by  law,  constitutes  a  supervis- 
ing military  bureau  of  the  War 
Department. 

The  Chief  of  Staff  issues,  through 
the  Adjutant  General  of  the  Army, 
all  orders  and  instructions  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  affecting  the  Regu- 
lar Army  and  the  National  Guard. 

FUNCTIONS     OF     THE     GENERAL     STAFF 
CORPS 

The  collation  and  discussion  of 
all  obtainable  data  relating  to  strate- 
gical, tactical  and  logistic  features 
of  military  operations  at  home  and 
abroad ;  the  formulation  of  com- 
plete working  plans  for  passing 
quickly  from  a  state  of  peace  to  a 
state  of  war,  including  the  mobiliza- 
tion of  all  the  available  military 
forces  of  the  United  States;  also 
the  preparation  and  keeping  up  to 
date  of  detailed  plans  of  defensive 
and  offensive  operations  against 
each  country  with  which  the  United 
States  might  become  involved  in 
war. 


The  collection,  classification  and 
distribution  of  military  information 
concerning  (a)  the  strength,  organ- 
ization, personnel,  armament  and 
equipment  of  our  own  and  foreign 
armies ;  ( & )  natural  and  artificial 
routes  of  communication  (rivers, 
canals,  roads  and  railroads)  ;  (c) 
the  manufacture  of  arms,  ammuni- 
tion and  other  war  materials;  (d) 
supplies  of  food,  horses,  mules,  pack 
and  draft  animals;  (e)  road 
vehicles,  including  motors  and  trac- 
tors. 

The  supervision  of  the  work  of 
military  attaches  and  observers ;  the 
conduct  of  correspondence  with 
them ;  inspection  of  their  accounts 
and  recommendations  as  to  their  de- 
tail and  relief ;  the  exchange  of  mili- 
tary information  with  foreign  war 
offices  through  their  representatives 
in  Washington ;  the  preparation  of 
instructions  for  the  guidance  of  offi- 
cers of  the  Army  serving  or  travel- 
ing abroad  or  acting  as  military 
attaches  or  observers,  and  the  colla- 
tion of  information  contained  in 
their  reports. 

The  collation,  preservation,  ar- 
rangement, filing  and  indexing  of 
maps,  sketches  and  plans,  American 
and  foreign ;  and  the  general  super- 
vision over  the  compilation  of  a  pro- 
gressive military  map  of  the  United 
States  and  its  possessions. 

The  collection,  preparation  and 
distribution  to  the  military  service 


508 


OUR   COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


of  military  information  concerning 
our  own  and  foreign  countries. 

The  preparation,  from  official  rec- 
ords, of  analytical  and  critical  his- 
tories of  important  campaigns  for 
distribution  to  the  Army. 

The  supervision  and  co-ordination 
of  military  education;  training; 
plans  for  field  maneuvers. 

The  study  of  the  needs  of  the 
military  service,  and  recommending 
changes  therein;  consideration  of 
matters  pertaining  to  armament, 
equipment  and  clothing;  location, 
design  and  construction  of  posts. 

The  preparation  of  schemes  of 
legislation  for  the  increase  of  mili- 


tary preparedness,  when  directed  by 
higher  authority,  for  submission  to 
Congress,  and  such  other  schemes 
of  legislation  for  the  improvement 
of  the  military  service  as  may  be 
directed. 

The  maintenance  at  the  War  Col- 
lege of  a  military  library  for  the 
use  of  the  War  Department  and  the 
Army  at  large. 

The  conduct  of  a  photographic 
laboratory  for  the  reproduction  of 
maps,  sketches,  photographs  and 
illustrations,  lantern  slides  and  such 
other  photographic  work  as  may  be 
required  for  the  War  Department 
and  the  Army  at  large. 


THE    ARMY    WAR   COLLEGE 


The  idea  of  a  War  College  for 
the  United  States  Army  was  first 
suggested  by  the  Honorable  Elihu 
Root,  then  Secretary  of  War,  in  his 
annual  report  for  1S99.  In  the 
words  of  its  founder,  its  purpose  is 

"not  to  promote  war,  but  to  preserve 
peace  by  intelligent  and  adequate  prep- 
aration to  repel  invasion.  It  is  a  growth 
and  not  a  new  departure.  Only  an  insti- 
tution permanent,  but  always  changing 


fectiveness    to    which    that   judgment    it 
entitled." 

The  functions  thus  described  are 
really  those  of  a  General  Staff  and 
it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Army 
War  College  as  first  established  by 
War  Department  order  in  1901  per- 
formed the  duties  of  such  a  body 
until  the  General  Staff  was  actually 
created  by  Act  of  Congress  in  190o. 


WAR    COLLEGE,    WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 


in  its  individual  elements,  in  which,  by 
conference  and  discussion,  a  consensus 
of  matured  opinion  can  be  reached,  can 
perpetuate  the  result  of  individual  effort 


After  that  date  the  War  College  as- 
sumed its  true  function  of  training 
selected  officers  for  staff  duty  and 


secure  continuity  of  military  policy,  and       higher  command  in  war,  the  control  - 


expSodnsf°orf 

military  questions,  the  respect  and  ef- 


linS  id**  being  that  each  class  shall 
be  a  useful  adjunct  to  the  General 


DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR 


509 


Staff  in  its  study  of  the  military 
problems  affecting  our  country. 

In  order  to  accomplish  this  result, 
the  year's  work  is  made  to  include 
studies  in  the  tactical  and  strate- 
gical handling  of  large  bodies  of 
troops,  in  the  general  control  of  the 
auxiliary  services,  and  in  offensive 
and  defensive  questions  of  military, 
as  dependent  upon  national,  policy. 
The  course  opens  with  map  prob- 
lems and  map  maneuvers  of  a  prac- 
tical nature,  representing  actual 
phases  in  military  operations  that 
might  have  to  be  undertaken  by  our 
forces  in  time  of  war.  These  studies 
are  confirmed  on  the  ground,  when- 
ever practicable,  by  terrain,  tactical 
and  staff  rides.  These  problems  are 
only  sufficient  to  insure  that  ideas 
shall  be  uniform  and  that  opera- 
tions shall  be  conducted  in  accord- 
ance with  an  accepted  doctrine  of 
war.  The  remainder  of  the  course 
includes  a  series  of  original  investi- 
gations, studies  of  war  plans,  contri- 
butions to  military  monographs, 
studies  in  military  geography,  in 
methods  of  obtaining  military  in- 
formation, and  in  military  historical 
research.  The  final  result  is  that 
each  class  contributes  something  of 
permanent  value  for  future  refer- 
ence. This  is  possible  only  because 
the  officers  detailed  to  take  the 
course  are  men  of  experience, 
preferably  graduates  of  the  Staff 
College  at  Fort  Leaven  worth,  and 
well  versed  in  the  theory  of  their 
profession.  The  President  of  the 
Army  War  College  is  a  general  offi- 
cer detailed  to  the  General  Staff  as 
assistant  to  the  Chief  of  Staff,  and 
the  faculty  is  selected  from  the  grad- 
uates of  the  Army  War  College. 

At  first  the  sessions  of  the  Army 
War  College  were  held  in  a  private 
residence  rented  for  the  purpose  in 
Washington  and  this  continued  until 
1907  when  the  present  magnificent 
building  on  the  site  of  the  old  Wash- 
ington Barracks  was  first  occupied. 
It  provides  quarters  not  only  for  the 
War  College  but  also  for  the  bulk 
of  the  General  Staff  on  duty  in 
Washington.  The  building,  which 


cost  about  $700,000,  is  of  modern 
construction  and  material  but  is 
purely  classic  in  design.  It  is 
massive,  well  proportioned  and  im- 
pressive. In  size  the  building  is  300 
feet  long  and  125  feet  deep.  The 
materials  used  in  the  construction 
of  the  exterior  are  red  Pompeian 
pressed  brick,  laid  in  Flemish  bond, 
with  ornamentation  of  limestone  and 
roof  of  dark  slate. 


Photo  G.  V.  Buck 
CONFERENCE    ROOM,    WAR    COLLEGE 

In  the  center  of  the  front  fagade 
is  the  main  entrance  pavilion,  con- 
sisting of  a  pedimental  gable  with 
massive  piers  on  either  side  and 
beautifully  proportioned  Ionic  col- 
umns in  the  center.  The  design  of 
this  entrance  pavilion  is  duplicated 
at  either  end  of  the  building.  The 
portions  of  the  structure  flanking 
the  pavilion  are  in  the  pilaster  style 
of  treatment.  Great  dignity  is  lent 
to  the  exterior  by  the  approaches. 
Low  granite  steps  lead  to  a  wide 
platform  paved  with  red  brick  laid 
in  ornamental  patterns.  The  build- 
ing is  one  of  the  most  artistic  edi- 
fices in  the  country,  and  is  con- 
sidered to  rival  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress in  its  technical  perfection. 

The  interior  is  perfectly  adapted 
to  its  purposes.  Passing  under  the 
entrance  pavilion,  the  visitor  arrives 
in  the  large  rotunda,  with  its  four 
columns  supporting  an  octagonal 
dome.  Immediately  beyond  this  is 
the  main  lecture  room  for  the  War 


510 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


College,  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
250;  to  the  right  of  the  rotunda, 
in  the  center  of  the  building,  is  the 
library,  and  to  the  left  is  the  map 
room,  both  extending  to  the  roof. 
On  the  long  sides  of  the  building  are 
the  various  lecture  and  conference 


shops,  store  rooms  and  vaults  are 
in  the  basement.  The  map  room 
contains  a  magnificent  collection  of 
the  military  maps  of  all  nations  ar- 
ranged for  ready  reference.  The 
library  contains  more  than  100,000 
volumes,  and  its  method  of  classi- 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 

ARMY  WAR  GAME  BEING  PLAYED  AT  THE  WAR  COLLEGE  BY  DISTINGUISHED 

ARMY  OFFICERS 


rooms,  record  rooms,  work  rooms 
and  offices.  The  galleries  of  the 
library  and  map  room  are  set  aside 
for  map  drafting  and  mounting.  The 
photographic  department,  complete 
for  every  kind  of  work,  the  work- 


n'cation  and  card  indexing,  devel- 
oped by  the  present  Assistant 
Librarian,  is  considered  to  be  the 
most  remarkable  and  complete  sys- 
tem of  its  kind  for  ready  reference 
in  this  country. 


MILITIA    BUREAU 


The  Militia  Bureau  is  vested  with 
all  administrative  duties  involving 
the  organization,  armament,  instruc- 
tion, equipment,  discipline,  training, 
inspection,  ana  payment  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard ;  the  conduct  of  camps 
of  instruction  of  the  National  Guard, 
and  the  administrative  duties  con- 
nected with  the  preparation  of  the 
National  Guard  for  participation  in 


field  exercises  and  maneuvers  of  the 
Regular  Army;  the  mobilization  of 
the  National  Guard  in  time  of  peace ; 
and  all  matters  not  herein  generi- 
cally  enumerated  which  do  not  under 
existing  laws,  regulations,  orders,  or 
practice  come  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  General  Staff  or  any 
division  or  bureau  of  the  War  De- 
partment. 


DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR 


511 


MILITARY    BUREAUS 

THE    CHIEFS     OP    THE     MILITARY    BUREAUS     OP    THE     WAR    DEPARTMENT    ABB 

OFFICERS    OF    THE     REGULAR    ARMY    OP    THE     UNITED    STATES    AND    A 

PART    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT 

OFFICE    OF    THE    ADJUTANT    GENERAL 


The  Adjutant  General  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  recording,  authenti- 
cating, and  communicating  to  troops 
and  individuals  in  the  military  serv- 
ice all  orders,  instructions,  and  regu- 
lations issued  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  through  the  Chief  of  Staff,  or 
otherwise;  of  preparing  and  dis- 
tributing commissions ;  of  compiling 
and  issuing  the  Army  Register  and 
the  Army  List  and  Directory;  of 
consolidating  the  general  returns  of 
the  Army;  of  arranging  and  pre- 
serving the  reports  of  officers  of  the 
Army  detailed  to  visit  encampments 
of  militia ;  of  compiling  and  main- 
taining a  list  showing  the  names  of 
officers  of  the  Army  on  detached 
service;  of  managing  the  recruiting 
service,  and  of  conducting  corre- 
spondence concerning  the  military 
service  generally,  including  such  as 
pertains  to  military  training  camps, 
rifle  practice,  the  Officers'  Reserve 
Corps,  the  Reserve  Officers'  Train- 
ing Corps  and  the  Enlisted  Reserve 
Corps.  He  is  also  vested  with  the 
government  and  control,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
of  the  United  States  Disciplinary 
Barracks  and  its  branches,  and  all 
offenders  sent  thereto  for  confine- 
ment and  detention ;  and  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  issuing  and  record- 
ing orders  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment remitting  or  mitigating  sen- 
tences of  general  prisoners,  or  honor- 
ably restoring  them  to  duty.  The 
Adjutant  General  is  vested  by  law 
with  the  charge,  under  the  Secretary 
of  War,  "of  the  military  and  hospi- 
tal records  of  the  volunteer  armies 
and  the  pension  and  other  business 
of  the  War  Department  connected 
therewith ;"  of  publishing  War  De- 
partment regulations,  manuals  and 
miscellaneous  documents  pertaining 
to  the  military  service  and  dis- 
tributing to  the  Army  such  publica- 


tions, as  well  as  those  publications 
of  a  private  nature  as  are  useful  in 
the  military  establishment;  of  pub- 
lishing and  distributing  the  Official 
Records  of  the  Union  and  Confed- 
erate Armies ;  of  obtaining,  compil- 
ing and  keeping  continually  up  to 
date  all  obtainable  information  as  to 
the  names,  ages,  addresses,  occupa- 
tions and  qualifications  for  appoint- 
ment as  commissioned  officers  of  the 
Army,  in  time  of  war  or  other  emer- 
gency, of  men  of  suitable  ages  who, 
by  reason  of  having  received  mili- 
tary training  in  civilian  educational 
institutions  or  elsewhere,  may  be  re- 
garded as  qualified  and  available  for 
appointment  as  such  commissioned 
officers ;  and  of  issuing  certificates 
of  enlistment  in  the  Enlisted  Reserve 
Corps.  He  also  has  charge  of  the 
historical  records  and  business  of 
the  permanent  military  establish- 
ment, and  all  pension,  pay,  bounty, 
and  other  business  pertaining  to  or 
based  upon  the  military  or  medical 
histories  of  former  officers  or  en- 
listed men,  including  the  considera- 
tion of  applications  for  the  Congres- 
sional Medal  of  Honor ;  for  the  bene- 
fits of  the  act  of  Congress  approved 
April  27,  1916,  establishing  the  Army 
and  Navy  Medal  of  Honor  Roll ; 
for  certificates  of  military  service, 
certificates  of  merit,  and  certifi- 
cates authorizing  the  purchase  of 
campaign  badges,  and  for  removal 
of  charges  of  desertion  and  the  issue 
of  discharge  certificates  to  such  sol- 
diers finally  charged  with  desertion 
as  are  entitled  to  relief  under  the 
terms  of  existing  law.  The  archives 
of  the  Adjutant  General's  office  in- 
clude all  military  records  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  in  the  possession 
of  the  General  Government ;  the  rec- 
ords of  all  organizations,  officers, 
and  enlisted  men  that  have  been  in 
the  military  service  of  the  United 


512 


OUK    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


States  since  the  Revolutionary  War, 
including  those  pertaining  to  the  vol- 
unteer forces  and  the  National 
Guard  while  in  the  active  service  of 
the  United  States ;  the  records  of  the 
movements  and  operations  of  troops  ; 
the  medical  and  hospital  records  of 
the  Army;  all  reports  of  physical 
examination  of  recruits  and  identi- 


fication records;  the  records  of  the 
Provost  Marshal  General's  Bureau; 
the  records  of  the  Bureau  of  Refu- 
gees, Freedmen,  and  Abandoned 
Lands ;  and  a  considerable  collection 
of  Confederate  records,  including 
those  pertaining  to  the  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  branches  of 
the  Confederate  Government. 


OFFICE   OF   THE    INSPECTOR   GENERAL 


The  duty  of  the  officers  of  the 
Inspector  General's  Department  is 
to  inspect  the  Army  in  all  its  de- 
tails, and  the  scope  of  their 
inquiry  includes  every  branch  of 
military  affairs.  They  exercise  a 
comprehensive  and  general  observa- 
tion within  the  commands  to  which 
they  are  assigned  over  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  efficiency  of  the  Army, 
the  condition  and  state  of  supplies 
of  all  kinds,  of  arms  and  equipments, 
of  the  expenditure  of  public  prop- 
erty and  money,  and  the  condition 


of  accounts  of  all  disbursing  officers 
of  every  branch  of  the  service;  of 
the  conduct,  discipline  and  efficiency 
of  officers  and  troops,  and  report 
with  strict  impartiality  in  regard  to 
all  irregularities  that  may  be  dis- 
covered, with  a  view  to  their  being 
remedied.  They  also  inspect  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  the  ten  branches  of 
the  National  Home  for  Disabled  Vol- 
unteer Soldiers,  the  Army  transports 
and  National  Guard ;  and  make  in- 
vestigations ordered  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  or  Department  Commanders. 


OFFICE    OF   THE    JUDGE    ADVOCATE    GENERAL 


The  Judge  Advocate  General  is 
directed  by  law  to  "receive,  review, 
and  cause  to  be  recorded  the  pro- 
ceedings of  all  courts-martial,  courts 
of  inquiry,  and  military  commis- 
sions." He  reports  upon  applica- 
tions for  clemency,  parole,  pardon, 
restoration  to  the  colors,  remission 
of  citizenship  rights,  and  re-enlist- 
ment of  general  prisoners  and  dis- 
honorably discharged  soldiers.  He 
also  furnishes  the  Secretary  of  War 
information  and  advice  relating  to 
lands  under  the  control  of  the  War 
Department,  as  well  as  reports  and 
opinions  upon  legal  questions  arising 


under  the  laws,  regulations,  and  cus- 
toms pertaining  to  the  Army,  and 
upon  miscellaneous  questions  aris- 
ing under  civil  law;  examines  and 
prepares  legal  papers  relating  to  the 
construction  of  bridges,  dams,  or 
other  work  over  or  in  navigable 
waters;  drafts  bonds  and  examines 
those  given  to  the  United  States  by 
disbursing  officers,  colleges,  rifle 
clubs,  and  others ;  examines,  revises, 
and  drafts  charges  against  officers 
and  soldiers ;  and  drafts  and  exam- 
ines deeds,  contracts,  licenses,  and 
other  legal  papers  relating  to  mat- 
ters under  the  War  Department 


OFFICE    OF   THE    QUARTERMASTER    GENERAL 


Under  the  provisions  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes,  Statutes  at  Large, 
current  appropriation  acts,  and 
Army  Regulations,  the  Quartermas- 
ter General  is  charged  with  the  fol- 
lowing duties: 

(a)  Pay  of  officers  and  enlisted 
men  of  the  Army,  including  Staff 
Corps  and  Staff  Departments,  Porto 


Rico  Regiment  of  Infantry  and  Phil- 
ippine Scouts ;  additional  pay  for 
length  of  service  and  foreign  serv- 
ice ;  pay  of  retired  officers  and  re- 
tired enlisted  men ;  pay  of  Regular 
Army  Reserve,  Officers'  Reserve 
Corps,  Enlisted  Men's  Reserve; 
mileage;  commutation  of  quarters 
for  commissioned  officers  and  vet- 


DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR 


513 


erinarians;  pay  of  nurses,  hospital 
matrons,  veterinarians  of  Cavalry 
and  Field  Artillery  and  Quartermas- 
ter Corps,  contract  surgeons  and  re- 
tired pay  clerks ;  expenses  of  courts 
martial,  courts  of  inquiry,  military 
commissions,  and  compensation  of 
reporters  and  witnesses  attending 
same ;  travel  allowance  to  enlisted 
men  on  discharge ;  value  of  clothing 
undrawn  to  enlisted  men  on  dis- 
charge; interest  on  soldiers'  depos- 
its ;  receiving  and  paying  deposits 
of  enlisted  men ;  gratuity  pay. 

(6)  Purchase  of  subsistence  sup- 
plies for  issue  as  rations  to  troops, 
civil  employees,  hospital  matrons, 
and  others  entitled  thereto;  sub- 
sistence of  masters,  officers,  crews, 
and  employees  of  the  Army  Trans- 
port Service;  hot  coffee  for  troops 
traveling  when  supplied  with  cooked 
or  travel  rations ;  meals  for  recruit- 
ing parties  and  applicants  for  en- 
listment while  held  under  observa- 
tion ;  for  sales  to  officers ;  commuta- 
tion of  rations  to  the  Cadets  of  the 
United  States  '  Military  Academy ; 
commutation  in  lieu  of  rations  to 
enlisted  men  on  furlough,  enlisted 
men  and  male  and  female  nurses 
when  stationed  at  places  where  ra- 
tions in  kind  can  not  be  economically 
issued  and  when  traveling  on  de- 
tached duty,  enlisted  men  selected 
to  contest  for  places  or  prizes  in 
Army  rifle  competitions  while  travel- 
ing to  and  from  place  of  contest, 
male  and  female  nurses  on  leaves  of 
absence,  applicants  for  enlistment, 
and  general  prisoners  while  travel- 
ing under  orders ;  commutation  in 
lieu  of  regular  established  ration  for 
members  of  Nurse  Corps  (female) 
while  on  duty  in  hospitals,  and  for 
enlisted  men,  applicants  for  enlist- 
ment while  held  under  observation, 
and  general  prisoners  sick  in  hospi- 
tals ;  prizes  for  enlisted  men  gradu- 
ates of  schools  for  bakers  and  cooks ; 
authorized  issues  of  soap,  candles, 
matches,  and  salt  and  vinegar  for 
animals;  towels  for  offices;  author- 
ized issues  of  toilet  paper,  toilet  ar- 
ticles, barbers'  and  tailors'  materials 
for  use  of  general  prisoners  confined 


at  military  posts  without  pay  or 
allowances,  and  applicants  for  en- 
listment while  held  under  observa- 
tion ;  issue  of  toilet  kits  to  recruits ; 
for  other  necessary  expenses  inci- 
dent to  the  purchase,  testing,  care, 
preservation,  issue,  sale,  and  ac- 
counting for  subsistence  supplies; 
for  purchase,  issue,  repair  and  main- 
tenance of  stoves,  ranges,  field 
ranges,  field  bakeries,  and  appliances 
for  cooking  and  serving  food  to 
troops  in  garrison  and  in  the  field; 
tableware,  kitchen  utensils,  and 
mess  furniture,  stationery  for  the 
Army,  including  blank  books,  blank 
forms,  and  the  necessary  printing; 
purchase,  issue,  repair  and  main- 
tenance of  prescribed  field  equipment 
and  supplies  for  garrison  use;  pur- 
chase and  issue  of  ice  for  use  of 
troops,  offices,  and  preservation  of 
stores ;  providing  cold  storage ;  con- 
struction and  maintenance  of  ice 
plants,  laundries,  post  bakeries,  and 
power  plants  for  lighting,  and  for 
supply  of  water ;  purchase  and  issue 
of  water  bags,  sterilizers  and  neces- 
sary chemicals  for  purifying  water; 
purchase  and  issue  of  fuel  for  heat- 
ing barracks,  quarters  and  other 
public  buildings  and  for  cooking 
food ;  fuel  for  operation  of  modern 
batteries,  pumping  and  other  power 
plants;  fuel  for  operation  of  trans- 
ports and  harbor  vessels  of  the 
Army;  furnishing  light,  including 
mineral  oil ;  necessary  furniture, 
text  books,  paper,  and  other  equip- 
ment for  post  schools  and  libraries ; 
subscriptions  for  newspapers  and 
periodicals  for  the  enlisted  men; 
forage  for  the  animals  of  the  Army, 
including  bedding;  purchase  and 
issue  of  typewriters,  adding  ma- 
chines, addressographs  and  other 
devices  for  use  of  the  Army;  seeds 
and  implements  for  raising  forage 
at  remount  depots ;  hire  of  all  em- 
ployees pertaining  to  the  Quarter- 
master Corps ;  extra  duty  pay  for 
members  of  disciplinary  barracks 
guard,  to  enlisted  men  on  duty  as 
school  teachers  and  stewards  and 
cooks  at  recruit  depots;  purchase 
and  issue  of  office  furniture  and 


514 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


office  equipment ;  payment  of  re- 
wards for  apprehension  of  deserters 
and  escaped  military  prisoners;  do- 
nations of  $5  to  dishonorably  dis- 
charged prisoners ;  purchase  and 
issue  of  blacksmiths'  tools  and 
materials,  horse  and  mule  shoes, 
horseshoe  nails,  wheelwrights'  and 
other  tools ;  purchase  and  supply  of 
flagstaffs,  surveying  instruments,  re- 
frigerators, wall  lockers,  trunk  lock- 
ers, window  shades,  screen  doors  and 
window  screens ;  purchase  and  issue 
of  animals  for  the  Army ;  equipment 
and  maintenance  of  remount  depots ; 
purchase,  issue,  and  repair,  main- 
tenance and  operation  of  wagons, 
motor  vehicles,  and  other  vehicles; 
purchase,  manufacture,  and  issue  of 
harness  and  pack  equipment;  pur- 
chase and  manufacture  of  uniforms 
for  the  Army;  purchase  and  issue 
of  other  articles  of  clothing;  pur- 
chase and  manufacture  of  tentage 
and  other  articles  of  equipage ;  pur- 
chase and  issue  of  technical  books: 
transportation  of  troops  and  impedi- 
menta ;  transportation  of  civilian 
employees,  of  baggage  of  officers, 
troops  and  employees;  transporta- 
tion of  animals  for  the  Army  ;  trans- 
portation of  Army  supplies ;  trans- 


portation of  funds;  payment  of 
wharfage,  tolls,  and  ferriage;  con- 
struction, operation,  and  mainte- 
nance of  harbor  vessels  for  the  Mo- 
bile Army  and  for  the  Coast  Artil- 
lery, including  mine  planters  and 
cable  ships ;  operation  and  mainte- 
nance of  Army  Transport  Service  on 
the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Oceans  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  charter  of  ves- 
sels for  transport  purposes ;  lease  of 
buildings  for  quarters,  storehouses 
and  offices ;  lease  of  grounds  for 
camp  sites ;  hire  of  lodgings  for  re- 
cruits ;  care  and  protection  of  mili- 
tary reservations;  care  .and  main- 
tenance of  post  cemeteries  and  na- 
tional cemeteries ;  care  and  improve- 
ment of  grounds  at  military  posts; 
and  attends  to  all  matters  connected 
with  the  military  service  which  are 
not  expressly  assigned  to  some  other 
bureau  of  the  War  Department. 

(c)  Constructs  and  repairs  quar- 
ters for  officers,  barrack^  for  en- 
listed men,  storehouses  for  storage 
of  supplies,  administration  build- 
ings, offices,  power  plants,  roads, 
walks,  wharves,  water  systems, 
sewer  systems  and  drainage  sys- 
tems ;  acquires  land  for  military 
purposes. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  SURGEON  GENERAL 


The  Surgeon  General  is  the  ad- 
viser of  the  War  Department  upon 
all  medical  and  sanitary  affairs  of 
the  Army.  He  has  administrative 
control  of  the  Medical  Department; 
the  disbursement  of  its  appropria- 
tions ;  the  designation  of  the  stations 
of  medical  officers,  dental  officers  and 
veterinary  surgeons,  and  the  issuing 
of  all  orders  and  instructions  relat- 


ing to  their  professional  duties;  the 
recruitment,  instruction  and  control 
of  the  Hospital  Corps  and  of  the  Army 
Nurse  Corps.  He  directs  the  selection, 
purchase  and  distribution  of  medical 
supplies.  The  Army  Medical  Mu- 
seum, the  library  of  the  Surgeon 
General's  Office,  medical  supply- 
depots,  and  the  general  hospitals 
are  under  his  direct  control. 


OFFICE    OF    THE    CHIEF    OF    ENGINEERS 


The  Chief  of  Engineers  commands 
the  Corps  of  Engineers,  which  is 
charged  with  reconnoitering  and 
surveying  for  military  purposes,  in- 
cluding the  laying  out  of  camps, 
selection  of  sites,  and  formation  of 
plans  and  estimates  for  military  de- 
fenses, construction  and  repair  of 
fortifications  and  their  accessories, 


the  installation  of  electric-power 
plants  and  electric-power  cable  con- 
nected with  seacoast  batteries,  and 
furnishing  the  necessary  electrical 
supplies  connected  therewith ;  plan- 
ning and  superintending  of  defensive 
or  offensive  works  of  troops  in  the 
field ;  examination  of  routes  of  com- 
munications for  supplies  and  for 


DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR 


515 


military  movements ;  construction 
and  repair  of  military  roads,  rail- 
roads and  bridges ;  and  military 
demolitions.  In  time  of  war,  within 
the  theater  of  operations,  it  has 
charge  of  the  location,  design,  and 
construction  of  wharves,  piers,  land- 
ings, storehouses,  hospitals,  and 
other  structures  of  general  interest ; 
and  of  the  construction,  main- 
tenance, and  repair  of  roads,  fer- 
ries, bridges,  and  incidental  struc- 
tures ;  and  of  the  construction, 
maintenance,  and  operation  of  rail- 
roads under  military  control,  includ- 
ing the  construction  and  operation 
of  armored  trains. 

The  Corps  of  Engineers  is  also 
charged  with  the  improvement  of 
rivers  and  harbors;  with  matters 
arising  under  the  laws  for  the  pro- 
tection and  preservation  of  navigable 
waters,  including  the  establishment 
of  harbor  lines,  anchorage  grounds, 
and  rules  and  regulations  therefor; 
rules  and  regulations  for  canals 
owned,  operated,  or  maintained  by 
the  United  States,  for  any  public 
navigable  channel  improved  under 
authority  of  Congress,  and  for  the 


navigation  of  streams  on  which  the 
floating  of  loose  timber  and  sack 
rafts  is  the  principal  method  of 
navigation;  also  with  the  issuance 
of  permits  for  the  construction, 
alteration,  maintenance,  and  opera- 
tion of  bridges,  the  granting  of  per- 
mits for  structures  or  work  in  navi- 
gable waters,  and  the  removal  of 
wrecks  and  other  obstructions  to 
navigation ;  with  questions  pertain- 
ing to  the  supervision  of  the  harbor 
of  New  York  and  adjacent  waters 
to  prevent  obstructive  and  injurious 
deposits ;  with  surveying  and  chart- 
ing the  Great  Lakes,  the  natural 
navigable  waters  of  the  New  York 
State  canals,  Lake  Champlain,  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  other 
boundary  and  connecting  waters  be- 
tween said  lake  and  Lake  Superior; 
with  the  preservation  of  Niagara 
Falls;  with  public  buildings  and 
grounds  in  the  District  of  Columbia ; 
with  the  water  supply  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. ;  with  the  construction  of 
monuments  and  memorials ;  and 
with  the  construction  of  roads  and 
bridges  in  the  Yellowstone  and  Cra- 
ter Lake  National  Parks. 


OFFICE    OF   THE    CHIEF   OF   ORDNANCE 


The  Chief  of  Ordnance  commands 
the  Ordnance  Department,  the  du- 
ties of  which  consist  in  providing, 
preserving,  distributing,  and  ac- 
counting for  every  description  of 
artillery,  small  arms,  and  all  the 
munitions  of  war  which  may  be  re- 
quired for  the  fortresses  of  the 
country,  the  armies  in  the  field,  and 
for  the  whole  body  of  the  militia 
of  the  Union.  In  these  duties  are 
comprised  that  of  determining  the 


general  principles  of  construction 
and  of  prescribing  in  detail  the 
models  and  forms  of  all  military 
weapons  employed  in  war.  They 
comprise  also  the  duty  of  prescrib- 
ing the  regulations  for  the  proof  and 
inspection  of  all  these  weapons,  for 
maintaining  uniformity  and  econ- 
omy in  their  fabrication,  for  insur- 
ing their  good  quality,  and  for  their 
preservation  and  distribution  at  all 
times. 


BOARD    OF    ORDNANCE    AND    FORTIFICATION 


The  Board  of  Ordnance  and  Forti- 
fication was  created  in  1888  to  assist 
in  the  development  of  war  material, 
especially  that  pertaining  to  ord- 
nance and  fortification.  The  board 
has  an  appropriation  from  Congress 
for  carrying  out  the  development 
and  test  of  inventions  for  which  no 
special  provision  is  otherwise  made, 


and  considers  a  very  large  number 
of  inventions  submitted  by  civilians, 
as  well  as  persons  in  the  military 
service,  each  year.  A  large  amount 
of  very  important  development  work 
has  been  carried  on  under  the  board 
and  the  board  is  glad  to  have  sub- 
mitted to  it  any  inventions  relating 
to  military  subjects. 


516 


OUR   COUNTRY   AND   ITS   RESOURCES 


The  membership  of  the  board  con- 
sists of  six  senior  Army  officers,  rep- 


resenting various  technical  branches 
of  the  service,  and  of  one  civilian. 


OFFICE    OF    THE    CHIEF    SIGNAL    OFFICER 


The  Chief  Signal  Officer  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  operating  or  super- 
vising the  operation  of  all  military 
air  craft  and  with  the  duty  of  train- 
ing officers  and  men  connected  there- 
with;  with  the  supervision  of  all 
military  signal  duties,  and  of  books, 
papers,  and  devices  connected  there- 
with, including  telegraph,  telephone, 
and  radio  apparatus  and  the  neces- 


sary meteorological  instruments  for 
use  on  target  ranges  and  other  mili- 
tary uses ;  the  construction,  repair, 
and  operation  of  military  telegraph 
lines  and  cables,  and  the  duty  of 
collecting  and  transmitting  informa- 
tion for  the  Army  by  telegraph  or 
otherwise,  and  all  other  duties 
usually  pertaining  to  military  sig- 
naling. 


OFFICE   OF    PUBLIC    BUILDINGS    AND    GROUNDS 


The  Office  of  Public  Buildings 
and  Grounds,  Washington,  D.  C., 
is  the  successor  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Public  Buildings  and 
Grounds,  established  in  1792  under 
the  direction  of  President  Wash- 
ington, and  is  now  a  bureau  of  the 
War  Department.  The  United  States 
Army  Engineer  Officer  in  Charge  is 
Military  Aide  to  the  President.  He 
administers  the  public  park  system 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the 
Chief  of  Engineers,  United  States 
Army,  under  whose  jurisdiction  and 
control  it  has  been  placed  by  law ; 
this  park  system  comprises  over  400 
parcels  of  Federal  property,  amount- 
ing in  all  to  over  1100  acres,  and 
includes  the  Mall  System  as  pro- 
posed by  L'Enfant  and  elaborated 
by  the  Park  Commission  of  1901. 
He  is  in  charge  of  the  preservation, 
care  and  safety  of  all  the  buildings 
occupied  by  the  War  Department,  of 


the  Highway  Bridge  across  the  Poto- 
mac and  of  the  monument  at  the 
birthplace  of  Washington.  As  Ex- 
ecutive and  Disbursing  Officer  of 
the  Grant  Memorial  Commission,  of 
the  Lincoln  Memorial  Commission, 
of  the  Arlington  Memorial  Amphi- 
theater Commission  and  of  the  Fran- 
cis Scott  Key  Monument  Commis- 
sion (which  monument  is  to  be 
erected  at  Fort  McHenry.  Baltimore, 
Md.),  he  supervises  and  controls  the 
erection  of  those  memorials.  As  Ex- 
ecutive and  Disbursing  Officer  of  the 
Rock  Creek  and  Potomac  Parkway 
Commission  he  has  the  development 
of  that  project  under  his  charge.  He 
is  a  member  and  disbursing  officer 
of  the  commission  to  prepare  plans 
and  estimates  for  an  armory  for  the 
National  Guard  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  he  is  Executive  and 
Disbursing  Officer  of  the  Arlington 
Memorial  Bridge  Commission. 


BUREAU    OF    INSULAR    AFFAIRS 


Following  the  Spanish-American 
War  the  War  Department  was  con- 
fronted with  varied  and  complex 
problems  in  the  administration  of 
the  civil  affairs  of  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  military  forces  of 
the  United  States.  There  were 
no  precedents  to  which  the  officers 
charged  with  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  this  territory  could 
turn  for  guidance,  and  the  difficul- 


ties of  these  officers  were  further 
complicated  owing  to  the  lack  of  any 
administrative  machinery  for  hand- 
ling these  problems.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  frequency  in  the  past  with 
which  the  War  Department  had 
been  called  on  to  conduct  military 
governments  and  civil  governments 
during  military  occupation,  there 
had  existed  in  the  department  no 
bureau  or  division  to  which  in  a 


DEPARTMENT    OF    WAR 


517 


particular  manner  was  committed 
this  work  of  supervision.  The  then 
Secretary  of  War,  recognizing  the 
urgent  need  of  such  a  bureau  or 
division,  organized,  in  December, 
1898,  the  Division  of  Insular  Affairs. 
The  rapid  growth  of  the  division 
thus  organized  led  to  its  being  .given 
a  legal  existence  July  1,  1902,  and 
since  that  date  has  been  known  as 
the  Bureau  of  Insular  Affairs. 

To  the  Bureau  of  Insular  Affairs, 
under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  War,  is  assigned 
all  matters  pertaining  to  civil  gov- 
ernment in  the  island  possessions 
of  the  United  States  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  War  Department, 
the  Philippine  Islands  and  Porto 
Rico  being  the  only  ones  so  subject 
at  the  present  time.  The  bureau  is 
also  the  repository  of  the  civil  rec- 
ords of  the  government  of  occupa- 
tion of  Cuba,  and  had  assigned  to  it 
matters  pertaining  to  the  provisional 
government  of  Cuba.  It  makes  a 
comptroller's  review  of  the  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  the  Philippine 


and  Porto  Rican  governments;  at- 
tends to  the  purchase  and  shipment 
of  supplies  for  these  governments; 
has  charge  of  appointments  of  per- 
sons in  the  United  States  to  the 
civil  service  of  the  Philippines  and 
Porto  Rico,  including  arrangements 
for  transportation.  It  gathers  sta- 
tistics of  insular  imports  and  ex- 
ports, shipping  and  immigration, 
and  issues  periodical  summaries  of 
the  same.  In  addition  the  bureau 
has,  subject  to  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  supervision  and 
control  of  the  Dominican  Receiver- 
ship for  the  collection  of  customs 
revenues  and  payment  of  the  inter- 
est and  principal  of  the  adjusted 
bonded  indebtedness  of  the  Domini- 
can Republic.  It  exercises  for  the 
receivership  practically  the  same 
functions  as  it  does  for  the  insular 
possessions,  particularly  with  re- 
spect to  the  custody  of  records,  the 
preparation  and  dissemination  of 
statistics  and  other  information, 
the  purchase  of  supplies  and  the 
appointment  of  employees. 


BOARD    OF    ENGINEERS    FOR    RIVERS    AND    HARBORS 


The  Board  of  Engineers  for  Rivers 
and  Harbors  is  a  permanent  body, 
created  by  the  River  and  Harbor 
Act  of  June  13th,  1902.  To  it  are 
referred  all  reports  upon  exam- 
inations and  surveys  provided  for 
by  Congress,  and  all  projects  or 
changes  in  projects  for  works  of 
river  and  harbor  improvement  upon 
which  report  is  desired  by  the 
Chief  of  Engineers,  United  States 
Army.  It  is  further  the  duty  of  the 
Board,  upon  request  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Commerce  of  the  Senate, 


or  by  the  Committee  on  Rivers  and 
Harbors  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  same  manner,  to 
examine  and  report  through  the 
Chief  of  Engineers  upon  any  ex- 
aminations, surveys,  or  projects  for 
the  improvement  of  rivers  and  har- 
bors. In  its  investigations  the 
board  gives  consideration  to  all  en- 
gineering, commercial,  navigation 
and  economic  questions  involved  in 
determining  the  advisability  of  un- 
dertaking such  improvements  at  the 
expense  of  the  United  States. 


OFFICE    OF   THE    CHIEF   OF    COAST    ARTILLERY 


1.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Chief  of 
Coast  Artillery  to  keep  the  Chief  of 
Staff  advised  and  informed  with 
respect  to  the  business  under  his 
charge,  including  the  efficiency  of 
the  personnel  and  material  of  the 
coast  artillery,  and  he  shall,  as 
circumstances  require,  make  such 
recommendations  in  reference  there- 


to as  shall  in  his  judgment  tend  to 
promote  efficiency. 

2.  He  shall  from  time  to  time,  and 
as  frequently  as  conditions  require, 
confer  directly  with  the  chiefs  of 
bureaus  of  the  War  Department  and 
advise  them  of  all  matters  relating 
to  coast  artillery  material  or  per- 
sonnel that  pertain  to  their  re- 


518 


OUR    COUNTRY    AND    ITS    RESOURCES 


spective  branches  of  the  service, 
which  the  experience  and  observa- 
tion of  the  coast  artillery  arm  of 
the  service  show  to  be  of  practical 
importance.  In  like  manner  he  may 
correspond  directly  with  the  com- 
mandant of  the  Coast  Artillery 
School,  and  with  the  president  of 
the  Coast  Artillery  Board,  on  coast 
artillery  questions  of  a  purely  tech- 
nical character  which  do  not  involve 
matters  of  command,  discipline,  or 
administration,  and  do  not  relate  to 
the  status  or  interests  of  individuals. 
3.  He  shall  make  recommendations 
as  to  the  instruction  of  coast  artil- 
lery officers  and  men,  and  as  to 
examinations  for  appointment  •  and 
transfer  of  officers  to  the  coast  artil- 
lery arm  and  for  promotion  therein, 
and  shall  recommend  such  examina- 
tions and  such  courses  and  methods 


of  instruction  in  the  Coast  Artillery 
School  and  elsewhere  as  he  shall 
deem  requisite  to  secure  a  thorough- 
ly trained  and  educated  force ;  to 
this  end  he  is  authorized  to  issue 
directly  to  coast  artillery  officers 
bulletins  and  circulars  of  informa- 
tion on  current  coast  artillery  mat- 
ters of  a  purely  technical  character 
which  do  not  involve  matters  of 
command,  discipline,  or  administra- 
tion, and  do  not  relate  to  the  status 
or  interests  of  individuals. 

4.  He  is  charged  with  the  recom- 
mending of  officers  of  coast  artillery 
for  special  duty  and  assignment  to 
coast     artillery     organizations     and 
stations. 

5.  He  shall  be  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Ordnance  and  Fortification 
and  is  by  law  a  member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Staff  Corps. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE 


ATTORNEY    GENERAL 


E  Attor- 
ney Gener- 
al is  the 
head  of  the  De- 
partment of  Jus- 
tice  and  the 
chief  law  officer 
of  the  Govern- 
ment. He  rep- 
resents the  Unit- 
ed States  in  matters  involving  legal 
questions ;  he  gives  his  advice  and 
opinion,  when  they  are  required  by 
the  President  or  by  the  heads  of  the 


other  executive  departments,  on 
questions  of  law  arising  in  the 
administration  of  their  respective 
departments ;  he  appears  in  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  in 
cases  of  especial  gravity  and  im- 
portance; he  exercises  a  general 
superintendence  and  direction  over 
United  States  attorneys  and  mar- 
shals in  all  judicial  districts  in  the 
States  and  Territories ;  and  he  pro- 
vides special  counsel  for  the  United 
States  whenever  required  by  any 
department  of  the  Government. 


SOLICITOR    GENERAL 


The  Solicitor  General  assists  the 
Attorney  General  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  general  duties,  and,  by 
special  provision  of  law,  in  case  of 
a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  the  Attor- 
ney General,  or  of  his  absence  or 
disability,  exercises  all  those  duties. 
Under  the  direction  of  the  Attorney 
General,  he  has  general  charge  of 
the  business  of  the  Government  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  is  assisted  in  the  conduct 
and  argument  of  cases  therein  by 
the  Assistant  Attorneys  General.  He 
also,  with  the  approval  of  the  Attor- 
ney General,  prepares  opinions  ren- 


dered to  the  President  and  the  heads 
of  the  executive  departments,  and 
confers  with  and  directs  the  law 
officers  of  the  Government  through- 
out the  country  in  the  performance 
of  their  duties.  When  the  Attorney 
General  so  directs,  any  case  in 
which  the  United  States  is  inter- 
ested, in  any  court  of  the  United 
States,  may  be  conducted  and  ar- 
gued by  the  Solicitor  General;  and 
he  may  be  sent  by  the  Attorney 
General  to  attend  to  the  interests 
of  the  United  States  in  any  State 
court,  or  elsewhere.  Performs  such 
other  duties  as  may  be  required. 


THE    ASSISTANT    TO    THE    ATTORNEY    GENERAL 


The  Assistant  to  the  Attorney 
General  has  special  charge  of  all 
suits  and  other  matters  arising  un- 
der the  Federal  anti-trust  and  inter- 


state-commerce laws,  and  performs 
such  other  duties  as  may  be  required 
of  him,  from  time  to  time,  by  the 
Attorney  General. 


Copyriglu    by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


520  OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 

ASSISTANT    ATTORNEYS    GENERAL 

The   several    Assistant   Attorneys  The  Assistant  Attorney  General  in 

General  assist  the  Attorney  General  charge  of  the  interests  of  the  Gov- 

in    the    performance    of   his    duties,  ernment  in  all  matters  of  reappraise- 

They  assist  in  the  argument  of  cases  ment  and  classification  of  imported 

in   the    Supreme   Court   and   in   the  goods   in   litigation   before   the   sev- 

preparation  of  legal  opinions.  eral  boards  of  United  States  General 

Five  Assistant  Attorneys  General  Appraisers  and  the  Court  of  Cus- 
are  located  in  the  main  department  toms  Appeals,  is  located  at  641 
building  at  1435  K  Street,  and,  in  Washington  Street,  New  York, 
addition  to  their  general  duties,  par-  The  Assistant  Attorneys  General 
ticular  subjects  are  assigned  to  them  and  the  solicitors  for  the  several 
by  the  Attorney  General  for  the  executive  departments  exercise  their 
transaction  of  business  arising  there-  functions  under  the  supervision  and 
under  with  United  States  attorneys,  control  of  the  Attorney  General, 
other  departments,  and  private  par-  They  are  the  Solicitor  for  the  De- 
ties  in  interest.  partment  of  the  Interior,  the  Solicitor 

The  office  of  the  Assistant  Attor-  for  the  Department  of  State,  the 
ney  General,  including  a  number  of  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  the  So- 
assistant  attorneys  and  clerks  licitor  of  Internal  Revenue,  the 
charged  with  defending  suits  in  the  Solicitor  of  the  Department  of  Corn- 
Court  of  Claims,  is  located  at  8  merce,  and  the  Solicitor  of  the 
Jackson  Place.  Department  of  Labor. 

PUBLIC   LANDS    DIVISION 

To  it  are  assigned  all   suits  and  ing  all  suits  or  proceedings   to  set 

proceedings  concerning  the  enforce-  aside  conveyances  of  allotted  public 

ment  of  the  public-land  law,  includ-  lands. 

CHIEF  CLERK 

The    chief    clerk,    under    the   direction  the    Division    of    Mails    and    Files ;    the 

of    the    Attorney    General,    has    general  purchase    and    distribution    of    supplies 

supervision  of  the  clerks  and  employees ;  for     the     department     and     the     United 

the     consideration     of    applications     for  States    courts;    the    expenditure    of    the 

leave    of   absence ;    the    direction   of   the  appropriations    for    contingent    expenses 

force  of  laborers,  charwomen  and  watch-  and  rents  ;   the  consideration  of  requisi- 

men ;    superintends    all    buildings    occu-  tions  upon  the  Public  Printer  for  print- 

Sied  by  the  department  in  Washington  ;  ing  and  binding ;  and  supervision  of  the 

as    charge   of   the   horses,    wagons    and  preparation    of    the    annual    report    and 

carriages   employed ;    has   supervision   of  the  estimates  of  the  department. 

DISBURSING    CLERK 

The    disbursing    clerk    disburses    from  the    salaries    and    expenses    of    certain 

about    forty    appropriations,    under    the  employees    stationed    in    the    field ;    the 

direction    of    the    Attorney    General,    in-  contingent  expenses  of  the  department : 

eluding  the   salaries   of   the   Justices   of  supplies   for   United   States   courts ;    and 

the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  other   special    and    miscellaneous    appro- 

and    the    judges    of    the    other    United  priations.      He    is    also    authorized    and 

States   courts  located  in  the  District  of  directed  by  law  to  withhold  and  account 

Columbia ;    the    salaries    of    the    officials  for  the  income  tax  as  it  may  apply  to 

of    the    department    proper,    as    well    as  Federal  employees. 

SUPERINTENDENT   OF    PRISONS 

The     superintendent    of    prisons    has  in   reform   schools   and   in   county  jails, 

charge,  under  the  direction  of  the  Attor-  He    has    supervision    over   the    construc- 

ney  General,   of  all   matters   relating  to  tion  work  in  progress  at  United   States 

United     States    prisons     and     prisoners,  penal  institutions. 

including  the  support  of  such   prisoners  The  superintendent  of  prisons  is  pres- 

in  both  State  and  Federal  penitentiaries,  ident   of   the   boards    of   parole   for   the 


DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE                                    521 

United    States    penitentiaries   and   presl-  institution    which,    from    time    to    time, 

dent  of  the  boards  of  parole  for  United  may    be    used    for    the    confinement    of 

States  prisoners  in  each  State  or  county  United    States   prisoners. 

APPOINTMENT    CLERK 

The  appointment  clerk  has  charge  of  and    employees    of    the    department    in 

all     matters     relating     to     applications,  Washington,     and     for     United     States 

recommendations,  and  appointments,  in-  judges,     attorneys,     and     marshals     and 

eluding  certifications   by  the  Civil   Serv-  other  officers  under  the  department.     He 

ice  Commission ;  conducts  correspondence  also  compiles  the  Register  of  the  Depart- 

pertaining  thereto ;  prepares  nominations  ment    of    Justice    and    matter    relating 

sent    to    the    Senate ;    prepares    commis-  to     that     department     for     the     Official 

sions  and   appointments   for  the  officers  Register  of  the  United  States. 

ATTORNEY    IN    CHARGE    OF    PARDONS 

The    attorney    in    charge    of    pardons  the    Secretary    of    War    and    the    Secre- 

takes  charge  of  all  applications  for  Ex-  tary   of   the   Navy,    respectively ;    of  the 

ecutive  clemency,  except  those  in  Army  briefing  of  the  cases  and  the  correspond- 

and  Navy  cases,  these  being  referred  to  ence  in  relation  to  them. 

ATTORNEY    IN    CHARGE    OF   TITLES 

The  attorney  in   charge  of  titles   pre-  growing  out  of  the  same.     He  has  charge 

pares   opinions   upon   the   title   to   lands  of  all  proceedings  to  acquire  land  under 

belonging   to    or   sought   to    be   acquired  eminent    domain,    and    conducts    all    the 

by   the  Government  for  public  purposes  correspondence     relating    to     the    above 

and    opinions    upon    all    legal    matters  matters. 

CHIEF    OF   THE    DIVISION    OF    ACCOUNTS 

The  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Accounts  court  accommodations  ;  and  the  advance- 
has  charge  of  the  examination  or  audit  ment  of  funds  to  United  States  mar- 
of  all  accounts  payable  from  appropria-  shals ;  also  matters  relating  to  the  ap- 
tions  for  expenses  of  the  Department  of  pointment  of  office  and  field  deputy  mar- 
Justice  and  the  courts  of  the  United  shals  are  in  charge  of  the  chief  of  this 
States.  Accounts  of  United  States  mar-  division. 

shals,  attorneys,  clerks,  and  commission-  Statistical  information  published  in 
ers  are  examined,  recorded,  and  trans-  the  annual  report  of  the  Attorney  Gen- 
mitted  to  the  auditor ;  while  other  ac-  eral  showing  the  business  transacted  in 
counts  are  recorded,  audited,  and  trans-  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  bank- 
mitted  to  the  disbursing  clerk  for  pay-  ruptcy  statistics,  and  the  various  re- 
ment,  under  recent  legislation.  ports  required  by  law  pertaining  to  ex- 
Authorization  of  court  expenses,  in-  penditures  under  appropriations  for  the 
eluding  items  for  office  expenses  and  courts  and  the  various  divisions  of 
clerical  assistants  for  clerks  of  United  the  department  are  also  compiled  in 
States  courts  ;  the  approval  of  leases  of  this  division. 

CHIEF    OF   THE    DIVISION   OF    INVESTIGATION 

The  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Invest!-  compensation  or  expenses  are  paid  from 
gation  has  general  supervision  of  the  the  appropriation  "Detection  and  prose- 
examination  of  the  offices  and  records  cution  of  crimes,"  and  who  are  employed 
of  the  Federal  court  officials  throughout  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  evidence 
the  United  States,  and  directs  the  work  or  of  making  investigations  or  examina- 
of  all  the  examiners,  special  agents,  and  tions  of  any  kind  for  this  department 
accountants  of  the  department,  whose  or  the  officers  thereof. 

LIBRARIAN 

The  librarian  has  general  charge  and  of  books  to  be  purchased  for  the  library, 

supervision  of  the  library.     He  is  a  mem-  directs  the  cataloguing,  and  co-operates 

ber   of   the   committee   for   the   selection  generally  in  the  service  of  the  library. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
POST    OFFICE    DEPARTMENT* 


POSTMASTER    GENERAL 


THE  Postmaster  General  is  the 
executive  head  of  the  Federal 
Postal  Service.  He  appoints  all 
officers  and  employees  of  the  Post  Of- 
fice Department  except  the  four  As- 
sistant Postmasters  General  and  the 
purchasing  agent,  who  are  Presiden- 
tial appointees.  With  the  exception  of 
postmasters  of  the  first,  second  and 
third  classes,  who  are  likewise  Pres- 
idential appointees,  he  appoints  all 


postmasters  and  all  other  officers 
and  employees  of  the  service  at 
large.  Subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  President,  he  makes  postal 
treaties  with  foreign  Governments. 
He  promulgates  all  rules  and  regu- 
lations ;  superintends  generally  the 
business  of  the  department,  and 
executes  all  laws  relative  to  the 
postal  service.  Much  information  is 
contained  in  his  annual  report. 


CHIEF    CLERK 


The  chief  clerk  of  the  Post  Office  De- 
partment is  charged  with  the  general 
superintendence  and  assignment  of  the 
clerical  and  subclerical  forces  of  the 
department  and  the  consideration  of  ap- 
plications for  leave  of  absence  for  such 
employees  ;  the  supervision  of  the  prep- 
aration of  estimates  of  appropriations 
for  the  departmental  and  postal  service : 
of  advertising  ;  the  supervision  of  requisi- 
tions upon  the  Treasury  and  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  appropriations  for  the 
departmental  service  ;  the  keeping  of  the 
journals  and  order  books ;  the  furnish- 
ing of  stationery  supplies  for  the  de- 
partmental service ;  the  consideration 
and  signing  of  requisitions  upon  the 
Public  Printer  for  the  printing  and  bind- 
ing required  in  the  Postal  Service  and  the 


department,  and  receiving,  and  inspect- 
ing on  receipt,  of  blanks  required  in  the 
Post  Office  Department ;  the  preparation 
of  contracts  and  general  superintendence 
of  the  publication  and  distribution  of 
the  Official  Postal  Guide;  the  fixing  of 
rates,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Postmaster  General,  for  the  transmission 
of  Government  telegrams ;  the  miscel- 
laneous business  correspondence  of  the 
Postmaster  General's  Office,  and  miscel- 
laneous correspondence  of  the  depart- 
ment not  assigned  to  other  offices  ;  the 
care  of  the  department  and  other  build- 
ings used  in  connection  therewith,  and 
of  all  furniture  and  public  property 
therein ;  and  the  performance  of  such 
other  duties  as  may  be  required  by  the 
Postmaster  General. 


SOLICITOR    FOR    THE    POST    OFFICE    DEPARTMENT 


The  solicitor  is  charged  with  the  duty 
of  giving  opinions  to  the  Postmaster 
General  and  the  heads  of  the  several 
offices  of  the  department  upon  questions 
of  law  arising  upon  the  construction  of 
the  postal  laws  and  regulations,  or  other- 
wise, in  the  course  of  business  in  the 
Postal  Service ;  with  the  consideration 
and  submission  (with  advice)  to  the 
Postmaster  General  of  all  claims  of  post- 
masters for  losses  by  fire,  burglary,  or 
other  unavoidable  casualty,  and  of  all 


certifications  by  the  Auditor  for  the 
Post  Office  Department  of  cases  of  pro- 
posed compromise  of  liabilities  to  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  remission  of 
fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures  under 
the  statutes  ;  with  the  giving  of  advice 
when  desired  in  the  preparation  of  cor- 
respondence with  the  Department  of 
Justice  and  other  departments,  includ- 
ing the  Court  of  Claims,  involving  ques- 
tions of  law  or  relating  to  prosecutions 
or  suits  affecting  or  arising  out  of  the 


*Tbere  is  a  special  chapter  on  the  Post  Office,  page  161. 
Copyright  by  Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 


523 


Postal  Service,  and  with  assisting  when 
desired  in  the  prosecution  or  defense  of 
such  cases,  and  the  maintenance  of  suit- 
able records  of  opinions  rendered  affect- 
ing the  Post  Office  Department  and  the 
Postal  Service  ;  and  with  the  considera- 
tion of  applications  for  pardon  for 
crimes  committed  against  the  postal 
laws  which  may  be  referred  to  the  de- 
partment ;  with  the  preparation  and  sub- 
mission (with  advice)  to  the  Postmaster 
General  of  all  appeals  to  him  from  the 
heads  of  the  offices  of  the  department 
depending  upon  questions  of  law ;  with 
the  determining  of  questions  as  to  the 
delivery  of  mail  the  ownership  of  which 


is  in  dispute ;  with  the  hearing  and  con- 
sideration of  cases  relating  to  lotteries 
and  the  misuse  of  the  mails  in  further- 
ance of  schemes  to  defraud  the  public ; 
with  the  consideration  of  all  questions 
relating  to  the  mailability  of  alleged  in- 
decent, obscene,  scurrilous,  or  defama- 
tory matter ;  with  determining  the  legal 
acceptability  of  securities  offered  T>y 
banks  to  secure  postal  savings  deposits  ; 
with  the  examining  and,  when  neces- 
sary, drafting  of  all  contracts  of  the 
department ;  and  with  such  other  like 
duties  as  may  from  time  to  time  be 
required  of  him  by  the  Postmaster 
General. 


PURCHASING   AGENT 


The  purchasing  agent  supervises  the 
purchase  of  all  supplies  both  for  the 
Post  Office  Department  proper  and  for 
all  branches  of  the  Postal  Service.  He 
reviews  all  requisitions  and  authoriza- 
tions for  supplies  and,  if.  proper,  honors 
the  same.  He  passes  upon  the  suffi- 
ciency and  propriety  of  all  specifica- 


tions for  proposals  for  supplies ;  pre- 
pares the  advertisements  and  forms  for 
proposals  necessary  to  the  making  of 
contracts  for  supplies ;  reviews  the  re- 
ports of  the  committees  on  awards  and 
recommends  to  the  Postmaster  General 
such  action  as  in  his  judgment  should 
be  taken  thereon. 


CHIEF    INSPECTOR 


The  chief  inspector  supervises  the 
work  of  post  office  inspectors  and  of  the 
division  of  post  office  inspectors.  To 
him  is  charged  the  preparation  and  issue 
of  all  cases  for  investigation,  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  depredations  upon  the 
mails  and  losses  therein,  the  custody  of 
money  and  property  collected  or  received 


by  inspectors,  and  the  restoration  there- 
of to  the  proper  parties  or  owners,  and 
the  consideration  and  adjustment  of  ac- 
counts of  inspectors  for  salary  and  ex- 
penses. To  his  office  are  referred  all 
complaints  of  losses  or  irregularities  in 
the  mails  and  all  reported  violations 
of  the  postal  laws. 


FIRST    ASSISTANT    POSTMASTER   GENERAL 

The    First    Assistant    Postmaster      hire,  labor  incident  to  cleaning  post 
General  has  charge  of  the  following      offices,  telephone  rental,  water  rental, 


divisions,  to  which  are  assigned  the 
duties  specified: 

Post  Office  Service. — The  organ- 
ization of  post  offices,  salaries  of 
postmasters,  the  appointment  and 
salaries  of  assistant  postmasters, 
supervisory  officers,  clerks,  and  city 
letter  carriers,  authorization  of  new 
or  changes  in  existing  service  on 
pneumatic  tube  routes,  and  Govern- 
ment-owned automobile  routes,  es- 
tablishment of  mail  messenger  and 
regulation,  screen,  or  other  wagon 
service,  the  performance  of  service 
by  contractors  on  such  routes  and 
.complaints  concerning  the  same, 
Government-owned  automobile  serv- 
ice, the  establishment,  maintenance 
and  extension  of  city  delivery-and- 
collection  service,  and  all  matters 
concerning  special  delivery  service. 


laundering,  towel  service,  and  mis- 
cellaneous service  items. 

Postmasters'  Appointments.  —  The 
appointment  of  a  postmaster,  to  post- 
masters' bonds  and  commissions, 
bonds  of  all  employees  in  post  offices 
except  rural  carriers  and  village  de- 
livery carriers,  leave  of  absence  of 
postmasters,  and  the  establishment, 
discontinuance,  or  change  of  site,  of 
a  fourth-class  post  office. 

Dead  Letters. — The  treatment  of 
all  unmailable  and  undelivered  mail 
matter  which  is  sent  to  it  for  dis- 
position ;  the  examination  and  for- 
warding or  return  of  all  letters  which 
have  failed  of  delivery ;  the  inspec- 
tion and  return  to  the  country  of 
origin  of  undelivered  foreign  mat- 
ter; recording  and  restoration  to 
owners  of  letters  and  parcels  which 


Allowances  for  rent,  light,  fuel,  clerk     contain  valuable  inclosures;  care  and 


524 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


disposition  of  all  money,  negotiable 
paper,  and  other  valuable  articles 
found  in  undelivered  matter  and 


correspondence,  both  foreign  and 
domestic,  relating  to  these  sub- 
jects. 


SECOND    ASSISTANT    POSTMASTER   GENERAL 


The  Second  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  has  charge  of  the  authoriza- 
tion of  new  or  changes  in  existing 
steamboat,  aviation  and  Alaska  star 
route  services. 

Railway  Adjustments. — Has  charge 
of  the  preparation  of  cases  author- 
izing the  transportation  of  mails  by 
railroads;  the  establishment  of  rail- 
way postal  car.  service  and  changes 
in  existing  service;  prepares  orders 
and  instructions  for  the  weighing 
of  the  mails  on  railroads ;  receives 
and  tabulates  the  returns  and  com- 
putes basis  of  pay  therefrom;  pre- 
pares cases  for  adjustment  of  allow- 
ances to  railroads  for  carrying  the 
mails,  and  for  postal  cars;  author- 
izes expenditures  and  credits  for  the 
weighing  of  the  mails,  and  transpor- 
tation by  freight  or  express  of  postal 
cards,  stamped  envelopes,  periodical 
mail  matter  and  mail  equipment ; 
and  prepares  all  correspondence  rela- 
tive to  these  matters. 

Foreign  Mails. — Is  charged  with 
the  duty  of  arranging  all  details  con- 
nected with  the  transportation  of 


foreign  mails;  the  preparation  of 
postal  conventions  (except  those  rel- 
ative to  the  money-order  system) 
and  the  regulations  for  their  execu- 
tion, as  well  as  the  consideration  of 
the  questions  arising  under  them  and 
with  the  preparation  of  all  corre- 
spondence relative  thereto.  Also  has 
supervision  of  the  ocean  mail  ser- 
vice, including  the  adjustment  of 
accounts  with  steamship  companies 
for  the  transportation  of  mails  to 
foreign  countries. 

Railway  Mail  Service. — Is  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  the  Railway 
Mail  Service  and  railway  postal 
clerks ;  prepares  cases  for  the  ap- 
pointment, removal,  promotion,  and 
reduction  of  said  clerks;  conducts 
correspondence  and  issues  orders 
relative  to  the  moving  of  the  mails 
on  railroad  trains ;  has  charge  of 
the  dispatch  and  distribution  of 
mail  matter  in  railway  postal  cars 
and  post  offices ;  conducts  the  weigh- 
ing of  mails;  and  attends  to  all 
correspondence  relative  to  these 
matters. 


THIRD    ASSISTANT   POSTMASTER   GENERAL 


The  Third  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  has  charge  of  the  following 
divisions,  to  which  are  assigned  the 
duties  specified: 

Finance. — The  financial  opera- 
tions, including  the  collection  and 
deposit  of  postal  revenues;  the  dis- 
tribution of  postal  funds  among  the 
several  depositaries  so  as  to  equal- 
ize, as  far  as  possible,  receipts  and 
expenditures  in  the  same  section; 
the  payment  by  warrant  of  all  ac- 
counts settled  by  the  auditor;  the 
receipt  and  disposition  of  all  moneys 
coming  directly  to  the  department; 
and  the  keeping  of  books  of  account 
showing  the  fiscal  operations  of  the 
postal  and  money-order  services  and 
the  regulation  of  box  rents  and  key 
deposits. 


Stamps. — The  supervision  of  the 
manufacture  and  issuance  to  post- 
masters of  postage  stamps,  stamp 
books,  stamped  envelopes,  newspa- 
per wrappers,  postal  cards,  and  pos- 
tal saving  stamps  and  cards  by  the 
various  contractors;  and  the  keep- 
ing of  the  accounts  and  records  of 
these  transactions.  The  receipt  and 
disposition  of  damaged  and  unsala- 
ble stamped  paper  returned  by  post- 
masters for  redemption  and  credit. 

Money  Orders. — The  supervision 
and  management  of  the  money-order 
service,  both  domestic  and  interna- 
tional ;  the  preparation  of  conven- 
tions for  the  exchange  of  money  or- 
ders with  foreign  countries. 

Registered  Mails. — The  supervision 
and  management  of  the  registry,  in- 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 


525 


surance,  and  collect-on-delivery  ser- 
vices; the  establishment  and  con- 
trol of  all  registry  dispatches  and 
exchanges;  the  instruction  of  post- 
masters and  the  furnishing  of  in- 
formation in  relation  to  these  mat- 
ters; and  the  consideration  of  all 
claims  for  indemnity  for  lost  regis- 
tered, insured,  and  C.  O.  D.  mail. 

Classification. — The  general  con- 
trol of  all  business  relating  to  the 
classification  of  domestic  mail  mat- 
ter and  the  rates  of  postage  thereon, 
including  the  determination  of  the 
admissibility  of  publications  to  the 
second  class  of  mail  matter,  their 
right  to  continue  in  that  class,  and 
the  instruction  of  postmasters  rela- 


tive thereto ;  also  the  use  of  penalty 
envelopes,  the  franking  privilege, 
and  the  limit  of  weight  and  size 
of  mail  matter. 

Postal  Savings. — The  conduct  and 
management  of  the  administrative 
office  of  the  postal  savings  system 
at  Washington;  the  selection  and 
designation  of  post  offices  as  postal 
savings  depository  offices  and  the 
supervision  of  the  business  trans- 
acted at  such  offices ;  the  manage- 
ment and  investment  of  postal  sav- 
ings funds  as  the  agent  of  the  board 
of  trustees;  and  the  administrative 
examination  of  accounts  of  post- 
masters and  other  fiscal  agents  of 
the  system. 


FOURTH    ASSISTANT    POSTMASTER    GENERAL 


This  bureau  embraces  the  Divi- 
sion of  Rural  Mails,  with  horse- 
drawn  and  motor  vehicle  service, 
and  the  star  route  service,  the  Divi- 
sion of  Equipment  and  Supplies, 
and  Village  Delivery.  All  requests 
for  rural  service,  star  route  service 
or  extensions  of  service,  the  appoint- 
ment and  discipline  of  rural  car- 
riers, and  the  preparation  of  all  ad- 
vertisements inviting  proposals  for 
star  routes,  and  making  awards  and 
contracts,  making  rural  delivery 
maps  and  distributing  parcel  post 
maps  and  guides,  and  all  supplies 
which  postmasters  need  in  the  con- 
duct of  postal  business,  including 
office  appliances  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  all  correspondence'  relating 
thereto,  belong  to  the  duties  of  this 
office. 

The  manufacturing  enterprises  of 
the  Post  Office  Department,  consist- 


ing of  the  mail  bag  repair  shop  and 
the  lock  shop,  are  also  under  the 
direction  of  the  Fourth  Assistant. 
All  repairs,  and  the  manufacture  of 
new  sacks  and  pouches  when  neces- 
sity requires,  the  manufacture  of  all 
locks  and  repair  of  same,  and  all 
mechanical  devices  used  in  the  Rail- 
way Mail  Service  and  post  offices, 
which  can  be  furnished  from  the 
lock  shop,  as  well  as  new  mechan- 
ical designs  and  improvements  for 
the  service,  are  included.  The  ex- 
perimental and  research  work  con- 
nected with  such  manufacturing  en- 
terprises, made  necessary  to  meet 
new  and  changing  conditions,  deter- 
mining the  needs  of  the  service  as 
to  style  and  character  of  equipment, 
and  assure  economy  in  expenditures, 
is  directly  under  the  personal  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  head  of  this 
bureau. 


CHAPTEK    X. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY* 


SECRETARY    OF    THE    NAVY 


THE  Secretary  of  the  Navy  per- 
forms such  duties  as  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  who 
is  Commander  in  Chief,  may  assign 


him,  and  has  the  general  superin- 
tendence of  construction,  manning, 
armament,  equipment,  and  employ- 
ment of  vessels  of  war. 


ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF    THE    NAVY 


The    Assistant    Secretary    of    the 
Navy  performs  such  duties  as  may 


be   prescribed    by   the    Secretary   of 
the  Navy  or  required  by  law. 


CHIEF    CLERK 


The  chief  clerk  has  general  charge 
of  the  records  and  correspondence 
of  the  Secretary's  office,  and  per- 


forms such  other  duties  as  may  be 
assigned  to  him  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy. 


OFFICE    OF    NAVAL    OPERATIONS 


The  Office  of  Naval  Operations 
was  established  by  Act  of  Con- 
gress of  March  3,  1915.  That  act 
provided  that  the  Chief  of  Naval 
Operations  should  be  selected  from 
an  officer  of  the  line  of  the  Navy 
not  below  the  rank  of  captain  and 
that  while  holding  this  position  he 
should  have  the  rank,  title  and  emol- 
uments of  a  rear  admiral.  The  act 
of  August  29,  1916,  provides  that 
while  so  serving  the  Chief  of  Naval 
Operations  shall  have  the  rank  and 
title  of  admiral,  to  take  rank  next 
after  the  admiral  of  the  Navy  and 
shall  receive  the  pay  of  $10,000  per 
annum  and  no  allowances.  He  is 
appointed  for  a  period  of  four  years. 

The  Chief  of  Naval  Operations  is 
charged,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  with  the  op- 
erations of  the  fleet  and  with  the 
preparation  and  readiness  of  plans 
for  its  use  in  war.  This  includes 


the  direction  of  the  Naval  War  Col- 
lege, the  Office  of  Naval  Intelligence, 
inspections,  gunnery  exercises  and 
engineering  performances,  the  oper- 
ation of  the  radio  service  and  of 
other  systems  of  communication,  the 
operations  of  the  aeronautic  service, 
of  mines  and  mining,  of  the  naval 
districts,  Naval  Militia,  and  of  the 
Coast  Guard  when  operating  with 
the  Navy ;  the  direction  of  all  strat- 
egic and  tactical  matters,  organiza- 
tion, maneuvers,  target  practice, 
drills  and  exercises,  and  of  the  train- 
ing of  the  fleet  for  war;  and  the 
preparation,  revision  and  enforce- 
ment of  all  tactics,  drill  books,  sig- 
nal codes  and  cipher  codes.  The 
orders  issued  by  the  Chief  of  Naval 
Operations  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties  are  considered  as  eman- 
ating from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
and  have  full  force  and  effect  as 
such. 


*There  is  a  special   chapter  on   "The  New  Navy,"  page  281. 
Copyright   by   Munn   &    Co.,    Inc. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


527 


The  Chief  of  Naval  Operations 
from  time  to  time  witnesses  the  op- 
erations of  the  fleet  as  an  observer. 

He  has  two  principal  senior  as- 
sistants, officers  not  below  the  grade 


of  captain,  one  as  assistant  for  oper- 
ations and  the  other  as  assistant  for 
material. 

He  is  ex-officio  a  member  of  the 
General  Board. 


COMMUNICATIONS   OFFICE 


The  Communications  Office  under 
the  direction  of  the  Chief  of  Naval 
Operations  handles  all  the  dispatch 
work  of  the  Navy  Department 
(radio,  telegraph,  cable,  and  tele- 
phone). A  commissioned  officer  is 
on  watch  in  the  Communications  Of- 
fice at  all  times,  night  and  day, 
and  is  responsible  for  the  routing, 
coding,  and  decoding  of  all  dis- 
patches. He  is  responsible  for  the 
proper  delivery  of  all  received  of- 
ficial dispatches. 


The  Assistant  Communications  Of- 
ficer on  watch  keeps  himself  in- 
formed of  the  general  and  special 
situations  in  order  that  he  may  thor- 
oughly understand  the  bearing  of 
dispatches  received  outside  of  de- 
partmental hours,  and  he  is  respon- 
sible that  dispatches  of  importance 
requiring  immediate  action  are  com- 
municated as  soon  as  possible  to  the 
proper  officer. 

The  Arlington  Radio  Station  is 
operated  from  this  office. 


OFFICE    OF    NAVAL    INTELLIGENCE 


The  Office  of  Naval  Intelligence 
is  charged  with  the  collection  and 
dissemination  of  such  technical  in- 
formation at  home  and  abroad  as 
will  be  useful  to  the  Chief  of  Naval 


Operations  and  to  the  various  bur- 
eaus of  the  Navy  Department  in  the 
formulation  of  plans  for  war  and  in 
the  development  of  personnel  and 
materiel. 


OFFICE  OF  GUNNERY  EXERCISES  AND  ENGINEERING  PERFORMANCES 


The  Office  of  Gunnery  Exercises 
and  Engineering  performances  is 
charged  with  the  duties,  under  the 
Chief  of  Naval  Operations,  of  formu- 
lating the  rules  for  all  forms  of 
gunnery  exercises  and  steaming  per- 
formances ;  computing,  compiling, 


and  publishing  in  confidential  form 
the  results  and  records  of  these  com- 
petitions; the  award  of  prizes, 
trophies,  and  commendatory  letters 
in  connection  therewith,  these  com- 
petitions being  the  means  to  the 
end;  i.  e.,  battle  efficiency. 


NAVAL   COMMUNICATION    SERVICE 


The  Office  of  Director  of  Naval 
Communications  is  established  under 
the  Chief  of  Naval  Operations.  The 
Director  of  Naval  Communications 
is  charged  with  matters  pertaining 
to  the  operation  of  naval  radio  sta- 
tions ashore,  and  in  addition  is 
charged  with  the  duties  in  connec- 
tion with  and  is  responsible  for  the 
efficient  handling  of  all  telegraph, 
telephone  and  cable  and  generally 
all  dispatch  work  between  the  Navy 
Department  and  the  fleet,  and 
throughout  the  naval  service  out- 
side the  fleet.  In  his  administration 
of  the  foregoing  he  has  general 


charge  of  the  operation,  organiza- 
tion, and  administration  of  the  Com- 
munication Service.  He  co-operates 
with  officials  designated  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  Commerce  in  reference  to 
location  of  proposed  commercial  sta- 
tions, the  licensing  of  operators,  the 
control  of  the  operation  of  commer- 
cial stations  under  the  law,  and  the 
assignment  of  wave  lengths  for  use 
by  commercial  stations  which  will 
comply  with  the  law  and  thereby 
prevent  possible  interference  with 
the  organization  and  opera- 
tion of  the  Naval  Communication 
Service. 


528 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


DIVISION    OF    NAVAL    MILITIA    AFFAIRS 


Since  the  passage  of  the  Naval 
Militia  Act  of  February  16,  1914, 
the  activities  of  the  Naval  Militia 
insofar  as  they  concern  the  Fed- 
eral Government  have  come  under 
the  Navy  Department.  All  duties  in 
connection  with  the  instruction  and 
training  of  the  Naval  Militia  and  of 
vessels  loaned  for  their  use  are  un- 
der the  control  of  the  Chief  of  Naval 
Operations.  This  part  of  the  activ- 
ities of  the  office  of  the  Chief  of 
Operations  is  directly  in  the  hands 
of  the  Division  of  Naval  Militia  Af- 
fairs. This  division  is,  in  effect,  a 
complete  Navy  Department  for  the 
Naval  Militia  insofar  as  the  Fed- 
eral Government  is  concerned.  The 
Naval  Militia  Act  of  February  16, 
1914,  provided  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  is  authorized  to  so  organ- 
ize, arm,  uniform,  equip,  and  train 
the  Naval  Militia  that  it  may  be 
eligible  to  be  called  forth  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to 
serve  the  United  States  in  the  event 
of  war,  actual  or  threatened,  with 
any  foreign  nation.  In  consequence 
of  this  act  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
has  denned  the  units,  the  number 
and  rank  of  officers,  and  the  number 
and  rates  of  petty  officers  and  en- 
listed men  of  all  Naval  Militia  or- 
ganizations. The  Division  of  Naval 
Militia  Affairs  has  laid  down  a 
standard  of  professional  and  physi- 
cal examinations  for  all  grades  and 
ranks  in  the  Naval  Militia  in  order 


that  such  officers  and  men  may  be 
mustered  into  service  without  fur- 
ther appointment,  enlistment  or  ex- 
amination. 

The  division  also  has  control  of 
regulations  and  contracts  under 
which  vessels  of  the  Navy  are  loaned 
to  the  Naval  Militia  for  their  train- 
ing and  instruction.  Officers  are  ap- 
pointed to  make  annual  inspections 
of  Naval  Militia  organisation.  Rules 
and  regulations  covering  the  details 
of  training  have  also  been  laid  down 
by  the  division  to  cover  instruction 
for  the  Naval  Militia  given  by  in- 
spector-instructors, officers  of  the 
regular  Navy  detailed  for  this  spe- 
cific duty.  The  division  also  con- 
ducts cruises  for  instruction  of  the 
Naval  Militia  on  vessels  of  the  reg- 
ular Navy,  vessels  loaned  to  the 
State,  aeronautic  encampments  and 
Marine  Corps  encampments.  All  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  Naval  Militia 
under  existing  laws  and  regulations 
come  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Division  of  Naval  Militia  Affairs. 
The  records  of  officers  and  men, 
cruises  and  all  like  duties  of  the 
Naval  Militia  are  kept  in  the  D.  N. 
M.  A.  In  the  event  of  the  mustering 
into  the  Federal  service  of  the  Naval 
Militia  for  active  duty  the  division 
from  its  records  of  officers  and  men 
would  recommend  the  detail  of  such 
officers  and  men  and  their  orders 
would  be  based  on  such  recommenda- 
tions. 


BUREAU    OF    NAVIGATION 


The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Navi- 
gation comprise  the  issue,  record  and 
enforcement  of  the  orders  of  the 
secretary  to  the  individual  officers  of 
the  Navy ;  the  training  and  educa- 
tion of  line  officers  and  of  enlisted 
men  (except  of  the  Hospital  Corps) 
at  schools  and  stations  and  in  ves- 
sels maintained  for  that  purpose ; 
the  upkeep  and  operation  of  the 
Naval  Academy,  of  technical  schools 
for  line  officers,  of  the  apprentice- 
seamen  establishments,  of  schools 
for  the  technical  education  of  en- 


listed men,  and  of  the  naval  home  at 
Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  the  upkeep  and 
the  payment  of  the  operating  ex- 
penses of  the  Naval  War  College; 
the  enlistment,  assignment  to  duty, 
and  discharge  of  enlisted  persons. 

(2)  It  has  under  its  direction  all 
rendezvous  and  receiving  ships,  and 
provides   transportation  for  all   en- 
listed persons  under  its  cognizance. 

(3)  It     establishes     the     comple- 
ments of  all  ships  in  commission. 

(4)  It  keeps  the  records  of  service 
of  all  officers  and  men,  and  prepares 


v 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


529 


an  annual  Navy  Register  for  pub- 
lication, embodying  therein  data  as 
to  fleets,  squadrons,  and  ships,  which 
shall  be  furnished  by  the  Chief  of 
Naval  Operations.  To  the  end  that 
it  may  be  able  to  carry  out  the 
provisions  of  this  paragraph,  all 
communications  to  or  from  ships  in 
commission  relating  to  the  personnel 
of  such  ships  are  forwarded  through 
this  bureau,  whatever  their  origin 
may  be. 

(5)  It  is  charged  with  all  matters 
pertaining    to    applications   for   ap- 
pointments and  commissions  in  the 
Navy,  and  with  the  preparation  of 
such  appointments  and  commissions 
for  signature. 

(6)  It  is  charged  with  the  prepar- 
ation,  revision,  and  enforcement  of 
all    regulations    governing    uniform, 
and  with  the  distribution  of  all  or- 
ders  and   regulations   of  a   general 
or  circular  character. 

(7)  Questions  of  naval  discipline, 
rewards,  and  punishments  are  sub- 
mitted by  this  bureau  for  the  action 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.     The 
records  of  all  general  courts-martial 
and  courts  of  inquiry  involving  the 
personnel   of  the  Navy  before  final 
action   are  referred   to  this   bureau 
for  comment  as  to  disciplinary  fea- 
tures. 


(8)  It  receives  and  brings  to  the 
attention    of   the    Secretary    of   the 
Navy   all  applications  from  officers 
for   duty    or    leave. 

(9)  It  receives  all  reports  of  ser- 
vice performed  by  individual  officers 
or  men. 

(10)  It  is  charged   with  the  en- 
forcement of  regulations  and  instruc- 
tions   regarding    naval    ceremonies 
and  naval  etiquette. 

(11)  It  shall  be  charged  with  the 
upkeep  and  operation  of  the  Hydro- 
graphic   Office,   the  Naval   Observa- 
tory,  Nautical  Almanac,   and  Com- 
pass offices;  with  all  that  relates  to 
the  supply  of  ships  with  navigational 
outfits,    including   instruments,    and 
with  the  maintenance  and  repair  of 
the    same;    with    the    collection    of 
foreign  surveys,  and  with  the  publi- 
cation and  supply  of  charts,  sailing 
directions,  and  nautical  works,  and 
the  dissemination  of  nautical,  hydro- 
graphic,  and  meteorological  informa- 
tion   to    the    Navy    and    mercantile 
marine.     It  shall  also  have  charge 
of  all  ocean  and  lake  surveys,  and 
ships'  and  crews'  libraries;  it  shall 
defray  the  expenses  of  pilotage  of 
all  ships  in  commission. 

(12)  It  shall  be  charged  with  the 
formation  of  the  Naval  Reserve  and 
with  all  matters  relating  thereto. 


UNITED    STATES    NAVAL   OBSERVATORY 

Including  the  Nautical  Almanac  Otfice 


DOME   OF   OBSERVATORY 
Naval  Observatory,  Washington,  D.   C. 


The  Naval  Observatory  furnishes 
the  United  States  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  with  the  standard 
time  at  noon,  seventy-fifth  merid- 
ian time,  each  day,  both  by  tele- 
graph and  radio,  while  the  chronom- 
eter and  time  station  at  the  Navy 
Yard,  Mare  Island,  California,  does 
the  same  for  the  country  west  of 
the  Rockies. 

Through  the  Navy  Radio  Station 
the  Observatory  furnishes  vessels 
navigating  the  north  Atlantic1  Ocean 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  the  standard 
time  twice  each  day,  at  noon  and 
10  P.  M.,  and  these  radio  time  sig- 
nals are  becoming  increasingly  used, 


530 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


THE   MAIN  BUILDING   OF   THE   NAVAL   OBSERVATORY,    WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 


by  persons  having  receiving  wireless 
sets  throughout  the  country,  in  pref- 
erence to  the  telegraphic  signals. 
Navigators,  surveyors  and  astron- 


omers are  kept  supplied  with  the  po- 
sitions of  the  heavenly  bodies  in  a 
form  for  practical  use  through  the 
American  Ephemeris  and  Nautical 


TRANSMITTING    CLOCKS,    CHRONOGRAPHS    AND    SWITCHBOARDS    USED    IN    THE 
U.  S,  NAVAL  OBSERVATORY  IN  SENDING  OUT  THE  TIME  TO  THE  COUNTRY 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


531 


Almanac,  and  the  American  Nauti- 
cal Almanac  through  the  Nautical 
Almanac  Office,  which  is  a  depart- 
ment of  the  Naval  Observatory. 

In  order  to  assist  in  furnishing 
data  to  keep  the  Almanac  and  Eph- 
emeris  up  to  the  highest  attainable 
standard  of  accuracy  continuous 
fundamental  observations  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  are  kept  up  at  the 
Observatory. 

When  a  mariner,  a  surveyor  or  an 

THE    BUREAU    OF 

The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of 
Yards  and  Docks  comprise  all  that 
relate  to  the  design  and  construc- 
tion of  public  works  of  the  Navy, 
such  as  dry  docks,  marine  rail- 
ways, building  ways,  harbor  works, 
quay  walls,  piers,  wharves,  slips, 
dredging,  landings,  floating  and  sta- 


astronomer  wishes  to  find  his  astron- 
omical position  on  the  globe  he  does 
it  by  observations  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  using  the  Nautical  Almanac 
and  a  comparison  of  his  local  time 
with  that  of  the  Observatory. 

The  Naval  Observatory  also  super- 
vises the  supplying  of  the  vessels  of 
the  Navy  and  the  Naval  Air  Service 
with  all  the  instruments  used  for 
navigating  them,  which  are  numer- 
ous and  interesting. 

YARDS    AND    DOCKS 

vehicles,  horses,  teams,  subsistence, 
and  necessary  operators  and  team- 
sters in  the  navy  yards.  It  pro- 
vides clerks  for  the  office  of  the  com- 
mandant, the  captain  of  the  yard, 
and  public"  works  officer. 

In  general  the  work  of  the  bureau 
is  carried  out  by  commissioned  offi- 


COMPARING    DECK    CLOCKS    TOR   WAR   VESSELS 


tionary  cranes,  power  plants,  coal- 
ing plants,  heating,  lighting,  tele- 
phone, water,  sewer  and  railroad 
systems;  roads,  walks  and  grounds; 
bridges,  radio  towers,  hospitals  and 
all  buildings  for  whatever  purpose 
needed,  under  the  Navy  and  Marine 
Corps.  It  has  charge  of  all  means 
of  transportation,  such  as  derricks, 
shears,  locomotives,  locomotive 
cranes,  cars,  motor  trucks,  and  all 


cers  of  the  Corps  of  Civil  Engineers, 
United  States  Navy,  whose  major 
duties  comprise  the  construction,  re- 
pair and  maintenance  of  the  public 
works  and  utilities  of  the  Navy. 

During  the  comparatively  recent 
upbuilding  of  shore  establishments 
of  the  Navy,  large  masonry  dry 
docks  have  been  completed  at  the 
navy  yards,  New  York,  Norfolk, 
Philadelphia  and  Charleston  on  the 


632 


OUR  COUNTRI   AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


east  coast,  and  at  Mare  Island  and 
Puget  Sound  on  the  west  coast.  In 
addition  a  1,000-foot  dry  dock  is 
now  under  construction  at  the  Naval 
Station,  Pearl  Harbor,  Hawaii.  This 
dock  when  completed  is  estimated 
to  cost  approximately  $4,986,500.  To 
provide  an  entrance  channel  from 
the  sea  to  the  site  of  the  dock  and 
the  naval  station,  extensive  dredging 
operations  were  necessary,  over  $3,- 
000,000  having  been  expended  for 
this  purpose  under  a  single  contract. 
During  the  last  ten  years  there  have 
been  expended  under  the  cognizance 
of  this  bureau  approximately  $70,- 
500,000. 

The  bureau  is  justly  proud  of  its 
record  in  connection  with  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  the  cen- 
tral power  plants  at  the  various 
navy  yards,  these  central  plants  hav- 
ing been  provided  for  by  act  of  Con- 
gress in  1904,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
great  waste  in  connection  with  the 
operation  of  many  separate  plants 
at  each  yard.  Fourteen  such  cen- 
tral power  plants  have  been  con- 
structed and  equipped  with  the  most 
modern  apparatus.  To  give  an  idea 
as  to  their  magnitude  it  may  be 
stated  that  these  plants  produced 
during  the  fiscal  year  1915  a  total 
of  approximately  50,000,000  kilowatt 
hours  of  electric  power,  6,000,000,000 
cubic  feet  of  compressed  air,  and 
3,000,000,000  pounds  of  steam. 

The  rapid  increase  in  the  use-  of 
fuel  oil  as  a  source  of  power  for 
ships  has  led  to  the  construction  of 
extensive  fuel  oil  storage  plants, 
some  seven  plants  having  been  com- 
pleted, with  many  others  contem- 
plated. The  present  capacity  of 
these  plants  is  approximately  30,- 
000,000  gallons  of  oil,  which  will 
probably  be  increased  to  150,000,000 
gallons.  These  plants  are  equipped 
with  powerful  pumps  capable  of  de- 
livering heavy  oils  from  tanks  to 
ships  at  the  high  rate  of  1,000  gal- 


lons per  minute.  The  tanks  are 
equipped  with  automatically  con- 
trolled fire  systems,  which  provide 
in  case  of  fire  a  blanket  of  inert 
gas  in  the  form  of  foam  over  the 
surface  of  the  oil. 

The  bureau  has  had  charge  of 
the  design  and  construction  of  radio 
towers  and  other  public  works  con- 
nected with  the  development  of  the 
high  power  radio  stations  of  the 
Navy.  The  location  of  these  sta- 
tions is  shown  on  the  Military-Naval 
Map.  The  first  of  these  stations  to 
be  completed  was  that  at  Arlington, 
Virginia.  Others  have  followed  at 
Colon  and  Balboa  on  the  Isthmus; 
Chicago,  Illinois ;  Chelsea,  Massachu- 
setts ;  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Key  West, 
Florida ;  New  Orleans,  Louisiana ; 
Point  Isabel,  Texas;  Guantanamo, 
Cuba ;  Cordova,  Alaska ;  Keyport, 
Washington;  San  Diego,  California; 
Pearl  Harbor,  Hawaii"  Island  of 
Guam;  Cavite,  P.  I.  The  stations 
in  Hawaii  have  been  in  telephonic 
communication  by  wireless  with  the 
radio  station  at  Arlington,  Virginia. 

This  bureau  has  designed  and  con- 
structed practically  all  of  the  im- 
portant graving  docks  in  the  United 
States.  Most  of  these  docks  have 
been  built  by  and  for  the  Navy.  It 
has,  by  arrangements  made  between 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts 
and  the  Navy  Department,  designed 
and  is  supervising  the  construction 
of  the  State  Graving  Docks  in  Bos- 
ton. It  will  also  give  general  super- 
vision to  the  graving  dock  to  be 
constructed  by  the  Union  Iron 
Works  in  San  Francisco,  California. 

A  member  of  the  Corps  of  Civil 
Engineers  of  the  Navy  has  been 
connected  with  the  construction  of 
the  Panama  Canal  as  Commissioner 
and  also  Engineer  of  Terminal  Con- 
struction. This  bureau  has  been 
represented  by  one  of  its  officers  on 
the  International  Board  of  Consult- 
ing Engineers. 


BUREAU    OF   ORDNANCE 


The  Bureau  of  Ordnance  of  the 
Navy   Department  is  charged   with 


the  design  and  manufacture  of  all 
guns,    gun    carriages,    ammunition, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


533 


mines,  torpedoes,  and  explosives 
used  by  the  Navy  Department. 
It  has  under  its  cognizance  the 
Gun  Factory  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
the  Naval  Proving  Ground  at 
Indian  Head,  Md.,  and  the  Tor- 
pedo Station  at  Newport,  R.  I., 
besides  all  of  the  magazines  and 
ammunition  depots  pertaining  to 
the  Navy. 

The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Ord- 
nance comprise  all  that  relates  to 
the  upkeep,  repair  and  operation  of 
the  torpedo  station,  naval  proving 
ground,  and  magazines  on  shore,  to 
the  manufacture  of  offensive  and 
defensive  arms  and  apparatus  (in- 
cluding torpedoes  and  armor),  all 
ammunition  and  war  explosives.  It 
requires  for  or  manufactures  all  ma- 
chinery, apparatus,  equipment,  ma- 
terial and  supplies  required  by  or 
for  use  with  the  above. 

It  determines  the  interior  dimen- 
sions of  revolving  turrets  and  their 
requirements  as  regards  rotation. 

As  the  work  proceeds  it  inspects 
the  installation  of  the  permanent 
fixtures  of  the  armament  and  its 
accessories  on  board  ship,  and  the 
method  of  stowing,  handling,  and 
transporting  ammunition  and  tor- 
pedoes, all  of  which  work  must  be 
performed  to  its  satisfaction.  It 


designs  and  constructs  all  turret 
ammunition  hoists,  determines  the 
requirements  of  all  ammunition 
hoists  and  the  method  of  con- 
struction of  armories  and  ammu- 
nition rooms  on  shipboard,  and, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Bureau  of 
Construction  and  Repair,  determines 
upon  their  location  and  that  of  all 
ammunition  hoists  outside  of  tur- 
rets. It  installs  all  parts  of  the 
armament  and  its  accessories  which 
are  not  permanently  attached  to 
any  portion  of  the  structure  of  the 
hull,  excepting  turret  guns,  turret 
mounts,  and  ammunition  hoists,  and 
such  other  mounts  as  require  simul- 
taneous structural  work  in  connec- 
tion with  installation  or  removal. 
It  confers  with  the  Bureau  of  Con- 
struction and  Repair  respecting  the 
arrangements  for  centering  the  tur- 
rets and  the  character  of  the  roller 
paths  and  their  supports. 

It  has  cognizance  of  all  electrically 
operated  ammunition  hoists,  ram- 
mers and  gun-elevating  gear  which 
are  in  turrets;  of  electric  training 
and  elevating  gear  for  gun  mounts 
not  in  turrets;  of  electrically  opera- 
ted air  compressors  for  charging  tor- 
pedoes ;  and  of  all  range  finders  and 
battle  order  and  range  transmitters 
and  indicators. 


BUREAU    OF    CONSTRUCTION    AND    REPAIR 


The  head  of  this  Bureau  is  the 
Chief  Constructor,  who  is  an  offi- 
cer of  the  Construction  Corps  of 
the  Navy  and  is  appointed  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate  for  a  four-year  term.  By 
the  authority  of  statute  law  orders 
issued  by  him  in  regard  to  the  work 
of  this  bureau  have  the  same  force 
and  effect  as  though  issued  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  Chief  Constructor  is  respon- 
sible for  the  general  designs  of  all 
vessels  of  the  Navy  and  for  incor- 
porating therein  the  military  char- 
acteristics approved  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  and  for  making 
the  necessary  provision  in  the  de- 
sign and  in  the  completed  ship  for 


the  propelling  machinery,  ordnance 
and  other  items  under  the  cognizance 
of  other  bureaus  of  the  Navy  De- 
partment. He  is  responsible  for  the 
detail  design  and  construction  of 
ships'  hulls,  their  strength  and 
stability,  hull  auxiliaries,  fittings 
and  equipage.  In  connection  with 
the  same  parts  he  is  charged  with 
their  inspection  in  ships  building  by 
private  contract,  with  their  construc- 
tion in  ships  building  in  navy  yards, 
with  their  repair  in  ships  in  com- 
mission, with  their  maintenance 
and  preservation  in  ships  out  of  com- 
mission, and  wHh  the  preparation  of 
specifications  ror  and  the  inspection 
of  all  material  necessary  for  these 
various  purposes. 


534 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


In  the  execution  of  these  duties  he 
is    responsible    for    the    proper    ex- 


penditure of  all  appropriations  made 
by  Congress  for  these  purposes. 


BUREAU   OF   STEAM    ENGINEERING 


The  Bureau  of  Steam  Engineer- 
ing is  charged  with  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  design,  the  construc- 
tion, and  the  maintenance  in  good 
condition  of  the  propelling  machin- 
ery of  vessels  of  the  Navy ;  of  their 
electric  light  and  power  equipment, 
except  of  motors  installed  by  other 
bureaus;  of  radio  stations  and  their 
equipment  on  shore  and  of  the  radio 
equipment  afloat ;  of  heating  and  re- 
frigerating apparatus;  of  distilling 
apparatus;  of  the  interior  communi- 
cation system,  comprising  tele- 
phones, call  bells,  etc.,  and  of  elec- 
tric signaling  apparatus;  of  aero- 
plane motors,  motors  for  small 
boats,  and  for  all  steam  connections 
in  the  ship. 

In  carrying  out  this  work  it  has 
indirect  control  of  the  shops  of  the 
machinery  division  in  navy  yards 
and  has  supervision  and  control  of 
the  Engineering  Experiment  Station 
at  Annapolis,  the  Aeronautic  Motor 
Laboratory  at  Washington  and  of 
laboratories  for  other  purposes  in 
navy  yards,  and  of  the  fuel  oil  test- 
ing plant  at  Philadelphia. 

It  has  cognizance  of  the  entire 
system  of  interior  communications. 


It  is  specifically  charged  with  the 
design,  supply,  installation,  main- 
tenance, and  repair  of  all  means  of 
interior  and  exterior  electric  signal 
communications  (except  range  find- 
ers and  battle-order  and  range  trans- 
mitters and  indicators),  and  of  all 
electrical  appliances  of  whatsoever 
nature  on  board  naval  vessels,  ex- 
cept motors  and  their  controlling 
apparatus  used  to  operate  the  ma- 
chinery belonging  to  other  bureaus. 

It  has  charge  of  the  design,  manu- 
facture, installation,  maintenance, 
repair,  and  operation  of  wireless 
telegraph  outfits  on  board  ship  and 
of  wireless  telegraph  outfits  and 
stations  on  shore.  (See  "Radio 
Service,"  p.  528.) 

It  has  charge  of  the  design,  manu- 
facture, installation,  maintenance, 
repair,  and  operation  of  aeroplane 
motors  and  propellers  and  their 
attachments. 

It  has  supervision  and  control  of 
the  Engineering  Experiment  Station. 

It  designs  the  various  shops  at 
navy  yards  and  stations  where  its 
own  work  is  executed,  so  far  as 
their  internal  arrangements  are  con- 
cerned. 


BUREAU    OF    MEDICINE   AND    SURGERY 


The  Medical  Department  of  the 
Navy  has  charge  of  the  well-being 
in  health  and  disease  of  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  Navy  and  Marine 
Corps,  .numbering  now  over  100,000. 
Not  only  is  sickness  cared  for, 
hospital  or  sick-bay  treatment  pro- 
vided, necessary  operative  measures 
undertaken,  but  also  those  in  sound 
health  are  safeguarded  in  life  and 
limb  as  far  as  modern  science  can 
avail. 

To  this  end  Surgeon  General  W. 
C.  Braisted  has  under  him  a  Medical 
Corps  authorized  up  to  a  total  of 
over  600,  a  Dental  Corps,  a  Nurse 
Corps,  and  a  Hospital  Corps  of  an 
authorized  strength  of  over  3,000. 


In  addition  he  has  available  for  call 
Medical  and  Dental  Reserve  Corps 
composed  of  physicians  and  dentists 
in  civil  life  who  have  patriotically 
offered  their  services  in  case  of  na- 
tional emergency. 

These  forces  are  directed  by  the 
Surgeon  General,  as  head  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Medicine  and  Surgery.  He 
has  charge  of  the  upkeep  and  opera- 
tion of  all  naval  hospitals,  number- 
ing at  present  eighteen,  situated  not 
only  within  the  continental  limits 
of  the  United  States,  but  also  in  our 
insular  possessions.  He  has  under 
consideration  all  questions  concern- 
ing the  health,  the  hygiene,  and  sani- 
tation of  the  service,  ashore  and 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


535 


U.    S.    NAVAL  MEDICAL   SCHOOL,    WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 


afloat.  One  or  more  medical  officers 
are  carried  on  all  ships  operating 
singly,  and  on  flagships  of  destroyer 
and  submarine  flotillas. 

The  Medical  Corps  in  addition  un- 
dertakes all  physical  examinations 
for  the  service  at  the  many  recruit- 
ing stations  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  on  board  ships  and  at  naval 
stations  and  yards.  It  passes  pro- 
fessionally upon  all  applicants  for 
enlistment  or  promotion  in  the  Hos- 
pital Corps,  and  educates  and  super- 
vises the  members  of  this  corps  dur- 
ing the  entire  tenure  of  service.  To 
this  end  two  excellent  Hospital 
Corps  Training  Schools  have  been 


established,  one  at  Newport,  R.   I., 
the  other  at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Surgeon  General  assigns, 
through  the  Bureau  of  Navigation, 
all  of  the  personnel  under  his 
charge  to  their  respective  duties, 
keeping  himself  constantly  in  touch 
with  all  specially  qualified  in  vari- 
ous professional  lines.  He  also  has 
charge  of  the  upkeep  and  operations 
of  the  three  Naval  Medical  Supply 
Depots  (Brooklyn,  Mare  Island  and 
Canacao),  medical  laboratories,  dis- 
pensaries, and  technical  schools  for 
the  Medical  and  Hospital  Corps.  The 
Naval  Medical  School,  in  connection 
with  the  Naval  Hospital,  Washing- 


OPERATING  BOOM  OF  THE  U.   S.   HOSPITAL  SHIP   "SOLACE" 


536 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


HOISTING    A   PATIENT    ON    BOARD    THE 
"SOLACE" 


ton,  D.  C.,  provides  most  valuable 
post-graduate  courses,  and  labora- 
tory facilities  for  research  and  in- 
vestigation. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  assets 
of  the  Medical  Department  is  the 
Hospital  Ship  "Solace,"  attached  to 
the  Atlantic  Fleet,  and  even  more 
so  will  be  the  magnificent  new  hos- 
pital ship  authorized  by  the  Sixty- 
fourth  Congress. 

In  addition  to  the  many  above  en- 
umerated duties  and  responsibilities, 
the  Surgeon  General  requisitions  for 
all  supplies,  medicines,  instruments, 
etc.,  used  in  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  Navy,  and  he  has  control  of 
the  preparation,  reception,  storage, 
care,  custody,  transfer,  and  issue  of 
all  supplies  of  every  kind  used  in 
the  Medical  Department  for  its  own 
purposes. 

And  lastly,  the  numerous  gallant 
activities  on  foreign  shores  which 
have  made  the  name  of  the  U.  S. 
Marine  Corps  justly  famous,  are  al- 
ways attended  by  their  quotas  of 
efficient,  self-sacrificing,  and  heroic 
members  of  the  Medical  and  Hospi- 
tal Corps  of  the  U.  S.  Navy. 


BUREAU    OF    SUPPLIES    AND   ACCOUNTS 


The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Sup- 
plies and  Accounts  comprise  all 
that  pertains  to  the  purchase,  re- 
ceipt, care,  issue  and  accounting 
for  all  supplies  and  materials  for 
the  Navy,  which  include  provisions, 
clothing,  coal,  oil  and  general  sup- 
plies; the  preparation  of  standard 
specifications  for  all  supplies;  the 
shipment  thereof,  including  trans- 
portation of  coal  and  fuel  oil  and 
the  location  of  the  sources  of  supply. 

They  also  comprise  the  audit  of 
property  returns ;  audit  and  payment 
of  vouchers  under  contract ;  payment 
of  traveling  expenses,  gratuity 


claims  and  allotments  made  by  of- 
ficers and  enlisted  men,  and  pay- 
ments to  the  Naval  Reserve ;  the 
recording  of  expenditures  of  money 
under  the  several  appropriations  and 
the  distribution  of  costs  to  the  vari- 
ous activities  of  the  Naval  estafr 
lishment.  This  bureau  also  admin 
isters  the  Commissary  Department 
of  the  Navy  and  is  responsible  for 
procuring  and  issuing  all  food  sup- 
plies to  the  enlisted  men;  it  like* 
wise  operates  the  two  naval  clothing 
factories  where  articles  of  uniform 
and  clothing  are  manufactured  for 
the  men. 


HYDROGRAPHIC    OFFICE* 

The  Hydrographic  Office  carries  and  navigational  data  from  mar- 
on  marine  surveying  in  foreign  iners,  professional  publications,  Gov 
waters ;  gathers  hydrographic  ernment  officials,  etc.,  at  home  and 


*The  work  of  this  office  is  of  such  importance  that  a  special  illustrated  chapter 
dealing  in  part  with  this  subject  will  be  found  on  page  129. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 


537 


abroad;  prepares,  prints,  and  issues 
navigational  charts  of  foreign  wa- 
ters to  the  Navy  and  other  public 
services  and  sells  them  to  the  mer- 
chant marine  and  the  public;  sim- 


ilarly with  regard  to  books  of  sail- 
ing directions  for  foreign  waters  and 
manuals  and  tables  for  navigators, 
except  that  their  printing  is  done  at 
the  Government  Printing  Office. 


OFFICE    OF   THE    JUDGE    ADVOCATE    GENERAL 


The  act  of  March  2,  1865,  au- 
thorized the  President  to  appoint 
an  officer  in  the  Navy  Department 
to  be  called  "the  Solicitor  and 
Naval  Judge  Advocate  General." 
The  appointee  pursuant  to  this 
act  was  carried  on  the  Navy  Regis- 
ter until  1870  when  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  was  established. 
The  act  establishing  the  Department 
of  Justice  (June  22,  1870)  provided 
that  "the  Solicitor  and  Naval  Judge 
Advocate  General,  who  shall  here- 
after be  known  as  the  Naval  Solici- 
tor," should  be  transferred  to  the 
Department  of  Justice.  The  incum- 
bent's name  was  then  dropped  from 
the  Navy  Register  and  placed  upon 
the  rolls  of  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice. At  his  death  in  1878  he  was 
succeeded  by  an  Acting  Judge  Ad- 
vocate General,  whose  office  was  in 
the  Navy  Department  until  June  8, 
1880,  when  the  office  of  the  Judge 
Advocate  General  of  the  Navy,  as 
a  part  of  the  Department  of  the 
Navy,  was  established. 

The  duties  of  the  Judge  Advocate 
General  of  the  Navy  are  set  forth 
in  detail  in  the  United  States  Navy 
Regulations,  1913,  as  follows: 

"The  duties  of  the  Judge  Advocate 
General  of  the  Navy  shall  be  to  re- 
vise and  report  upon  the  legal  fea- 
tures of  and  have  recorded  the  pro- 
c  e  e  d  i  n  g  s  of  all  courts-martial, 
courts  of  inquiry,  boards  of  investi- 
gation, inquest,  and  boards  for  the 
examination  of  officers  for  retire- 
ment and  promotion  in  the  naval 
service;  to  prepare  charges  and 
specifications  for  courts-martial, 
and  the  necessary  orders  convening 
courts-martial  in  cases  where  such 
courts  are  ordered  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy;  to  prepare  court-mar- 
tial orders  promulgating  the  final 
action  of  the  reviewing  authority  in 


court-martial  cases;  to  prepare  the 
necessary  orders  convening  courts  of 
inquiry  in  cases  where  such  courts 
are  ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  boards  for  the  examina- 
tion of  officers  for  promotion  and  re- 
tirement, and  for  the  examination  of 
candidates  for  appointment  as  com- 
missioned officers  in  the  Navy  other 
than  midshipmen,  and  to  conduct  all 
official  correspondence  relating  to 
such  courts  and  boards. 

"It  is  also  the  duty  of  the  Judge 
Advocate  General  to  examine  and 
report  upon  all  questions  relating  to 
rank  and  precedence,  to  promotions 
and  retirements,  and  to  the  validity 
of  the  proceedings  in  court-martial 
cases,  all  matters  relating  to  the 
supervision  and  control  of  naval 
prisons  and  prisoners  [disciplinary 
ships  and  detentioners]  ;  the  removal 
of  the  mark  of  desertion;  the  cor- 
rection of  records  of  service  and 
reporting  thereupon  in  the  Regular 
or  Volunteer  Navy;  certification  of 
discharge  in  true  name;  pardons; 
bills  and  resolutions  introduced  in 
Congress  relating  to  the  personnel 
and  referred  to  the  department  for 
report,  and  the  drafting  and  inter- 
pretation of  statutes  relating  to  the 
personnel;  references  to  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  Treasury  with  regard 
to  pay  and  allowances  of  the  per- 
sonnel ;  questions  involving  points  of 
law  concerning  the  personnel;  pro- 
ceedings in  the  civil  courts  in  all 
cases  concerning  the  personnel  as 
such;  and  to  conduct  the  corre- 
spondence respecting  the  foregoing 
duties,  including  the  preparation  for 
submission  to  the  Attorney  General 
of  all  questions  relating  to  subjects 
coming  under  his  own  cognizance 
which  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
may  direct  to  be  so  referred." 

The   study  of  International   Law 


538 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND   ITS  RESOURCES 


has  also  recently  been  assigned  to 
the  office  of  the  Judge  Advocate 
General,  and  he  is  required  to  ex- 
amine and  report,  upon  questions  of 
international  law.  Because  of  the 
present  European  conflict  and  the 
strained  relations  between  this 
country  and  Mexico,  many  intricate 
questions  of  present  moment  have 
arisen,  such  as  the  interference  with 
American  mail,  removal  of  ex-en- 
listed men  of  the  naval  service  from 


American  ships,  attempts  by  bellig- 
erent ships  to  board  naval  auxiliar- 
ies, the  exercise  of  visit  and  search 
by  them  in  territorial  waters,  etc. 

The  subjects  of  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  of  war,  while  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment, and  of  belligerent  ships  and 
individuals  interned  in  this  country, 
and  the  formulation  of  regulations 
to  cover  same,  have  also  been 
assigned  by  regulation  to  this  office. 


BOARD    OF    INSPECTION    AND    SURVEY 


The  Board  of  Inspection  and  Sur- 
vey is  charged,  under  specific  di- 
rections in  each  case,  with  con- 
ducting preliminary  and  final  ac- 
ceptance trials  of  all  naval  vessels 
as  they  come  from  the  wrorks  of 
the  builders;  with  the  survey  and 
inspection  of  all  naval  vessels  in 
service  at  least  every  three  years 
and  at  such  other  times  as  condi- 


tions render  such  inspections  neces- 
sary or  desirable;  with  the  inspec- 
tions of  motorboats  for  coast  defense 
and  patrol  purposes.  A  section  of 
the  Board  of  Inspection  and  Sur- 
vey, working  with  certain  Army  of- 
ficers, constitutes  a  Board  for  the 
Inspection  of  Merchant  Auxiliaries. 
The  board  operates  both  directly 
and  through  sub-boards. 


OFFICE   OF   THE    SOLICITOR 


The  duties  of  the  Solicitor  com- 
prise and  relate  to  examination  and 
report  upon  questions  of  law,  includ- 
ing the  drafting  and  interpretation 
of  statutes,  and  matters  submitted 
to  the  accounting  officers  not  relat- 
ing to  the  personnel ;  preparation  of 
advertisements,  proposals,  and  con- 
tracts ;  insurance ;  patents ;  the  suf- 
ficiency of  official,  contract,  and 
other  bonds  and  guaranties ;  pro- 
ceedings in  the  civil  courts  by  or 
against  the  Government  or  its  offi- 
cers in  cases  relating  to  material 
and  not  concerning  the  personnel  as 
such;  claims  by  or  against  the  Gov- 
ernment ;  questions  submitted  to  the 


Attorney  General,  except  such  as  are 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  Judge 
Advocate  General;  bills  and  con- 
gressional resolutions  and  inquiries 
not  relating  to  the  personnel  and 
not  elsewhere  assigned ;  the  search- 
ing of  titles,  purchase,  sale,  trans- 
fer, and  other  questions  affecting 
lands  and  buildings  pertaining  to  the 
Navy;  the  care  and  preservation  of 
all  muniments  of  title  to  land  ac- 
quired for  naval  uses ;  and  the  cor- 
respondence respecting  the  foregoing 
duties ;  and  rendering  opinion  upon 
any  matter  or  question  of  law  re- 
ferred to  him  by  the  Secretary  or 
Assistant  Secretary. 


MAJOR   GENERAL   COMMANDANT   OF   THE    MARINE    CORPS 


The  Major  General  Commandant 
of  the  Marine  Corps  is  responsible 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  for  the 
general  efficiency  and  discipline  of 
the  corps;  makes  such  distribution 
of  officers  and  men.  for  duty  at  the 
several  shore  stations  as  shall  ap- 
pear to  him  to  be  most  advantageous 
for  the  interests  of  the  service ;  fur- 
nishes detachments  for  vessels  of 
the  Navy  according  to  the  author- 


ized scale  of  allowance:  issues  or- 
ders for  the  movement  of  officers 
and  troops,  and  such  other  orders 
and  instructions  for  their  guidance 
as  may  be  necessary;  arid  has 
charge  and  exercises  general  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  recruiting 
service  of  the  corps,  and  of  the 
necessary  expenses  thereof,  includ- 
ing the  establishment  of  recruiting 
stations. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR 


SECRETARY    OF   THE    INTERIOR 


THE  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is 
charged  with  the  supervision  of 
public  business  relating  to  pat- 
ents for  inventions,  pensions  and 
bounty  lands,  the  public  lands  and 
surveys,  the  Indians,  education,  the 
Geological  Survey,  the  Reclamation 
Service,  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  na- 
tional parks,  distribution  of  appro- 
priations for  agricultural  and  me- 
chanical colleges  in  the  States  and 


Territories  and  certain  hospitals  and 
eleemosynary  institutions  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  By  authority  of 
the  President  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  has  general  supervision  over 
the  work  of  completing  the  survey 
of  routes  for  railroads  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Alaska.  He  also  exercises 
certain  other  powers  and  duties  in 
relation  to  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States. 


FIRST    ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF   THE    INTERIOR 


In  the  absence  of  the  Secretary 
the  First  Assistant  Secretary  be- 
comes Acting  Secretary.  He  is  espe- 
cially charged  with  supervision  of 
the  business  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  including  cases  appealed  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  from 
decisions  of  that  bureau  involving 
public  lands ;  applications  for  ease- 
ments or  rights  of  way  for  reser- 
voirs, ditches,  railroads,  telephone 
and  power-transmission  lines ;  selec- 
tions of  public  lands  under  grants 


made  by  Congress  to  aid  in  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  and  wagon 
roads,  for  reclamation,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  educational  and  other  pub- 
lic institutions,  etc.  Indian  affairs 
affecting  the  disposal  of  the  public 
domain  are  under  his  supervision. 
He  considers  proposed  legislation 
pertaining  to  matters  under  his  ad- 
ministration. From  time  to  time 
duties  in  connection  with  the  affairs 
of  other  bureaus  of  the  department 
are  assigned  to  him. 


ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF    THE    INTERIOR 


The  Assistant  Secretary  has  gen- 
eral supervision  over  all  matters 
concerning  the  Indian  Office  (except 
those  which  relate  to  the  work  of 
the  General  Land  Office  and  are  for- 
warded through  that  office),  the  Pat- 
ent Office,  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  the 
Pension  Office  (including  appeals 
from  the  decisions  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Pensions),  the  execution 
of  contracts  and  the  approval  of 


vouchers  covering  expenditures  of 
money  for  the  eleemosynary  insti- 
tutions under  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
(including  Saint  Elizabeth's  Hospi- 
tal, formerly  the  Government  Hospi- 
tal for  the  Insane),  and  various 
miscellaneous  matters  over  which 
the  department  has  jurisdiction.  He 
also  considers  proposed  legislation 
pertaining  to  the  department. 


Copyright  by   Muun   &   Co.,   Inc. 


540 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


ASSISTANT   TO    THE    SECRETARY 


This  officer  is  charged  with  the 
general  supervision  of  matters  re- 
lating to  the  eleemosynary  institu- 
tions under  the  Department  of  the 


Interior  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
the  Bureau  of  Education,  the  na- 
tional parks,  national  monuments, 
and  the  Territories. 


CHIEF    CLERK 


As  the  chief  executive  officer  of 
the  department  and  the  administra- 
tive head  of  the  Office  of  the  Secre- 
tary the  chief  clerk  has  supervision 
over  the  clerks  and  other  employees 
of  the  department  (including  the 
watch,  mechanical  and  labor  forces), 
enforces  the  general  regulations  of 
the  department,  and  is  superintend- 
ent of  the  several  buildings  occu- 
pied by  the  department.  He  also 
supervises  the  classification  and 


compilation  of  all  estimates  of  ap- 
propriations. The  detailed  work  re- 
lating to  eleemosynary  institutions 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  under 
the  Department  of  the  Interior,  the 
office  of  the  returns  clerk,  and  mis- 
cellaneous matters  is  done  in  his 
office.  During  the  absence  of  the 
Secretary  and  Assistant  Secretaries 
he  may  be  designated  by  the  Secre- 
tary to  sign  official  papers  and 
documents. 


COMMISSIONER   OF    PATENTS 


The  Commissioner  of  Patents  is 
charged  with  the  administration  of 
the  patent  laws,  and  supervision  of 
all  matters  relating  to  the  granting 
of  letters  patent  for  inventions,  and 
the  registration  of  trade-marks.  He 


is  by  statute  made  the  tribunal  of 
last  resort  in  the  Patent  Office,  and 
has  appellate  jurisdiction  in  the 
trial  of  interference  cases,  of  the 
patentability  of  inventions,  and  of 
registration  of  trade-marks. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  PATENT  OFFICE,   WASHINGTON,   D.   C, 


DEPARTMENT   OF   THE   INTERIOR 


541 


THE    PATENT   OFFICE* 


The  duties  of  the  Patent  Office 
or  its  functions  with  respect  to 
the  inventor*  may  be  classified  un- 
der a  few  heads.  Each  of  these 
is  of  great  importance  and  it  is 
thought  that  the  simplicity  of  the 
classification  may  aid  somewhat  in 
understanding  fully  just  what  the 
Patent  Office  does  for  an  inventor. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  the  keeper 
of  records,  maintaining  as  it  does  in 
well  classified  form  the  patents  is- 


much  of  these  records  as  may  be 
desired  by  the  public. 

The  registration  of  trade-marks 
and  labels  and  the  granting  of  pat- 
ents for  designs  also  come  within 
the  duties  of  the  Patent  Office^  as 
well  as  the  recordation  of  assign- 
ments and  other  instruments  in  writ- 
ing affecting  the  title  to  patents. 

It  also  maintains  among  its  rec- 
ords the  pending  applications  for 
patents,  which  are  not  open  to  pub- 


INTERIOR   VIEW  OF  THE  PATENT   OFFICE 


sued  by  the  United  States,  and  also 
the  patents  issued  by  numerous 
foreign  nations  which  issue  Let- 
ters Patent  for  inventions.  Inci- 
dentally, it  permits  the  inspection  of 
these  records  by  inventors  or  those 
acting  for  them  and  also  furnishes 
certified  and  uncertified  copies  of  so 


lie  inspection  except  to  the  appli- 
cant or  those  acting  by  his  authority, 
and  forfeited  and  abandoned  appli- 
cations which,  like  the  pending  ap- 
plications, are  not  open  to  public 
inspection. 

The  Patent  Office   also  examines 
patent  applications   and   determines 


""There  is  a  special  historical  chapter  on  the  Patent  Office,  page  199. 


542 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


the  propriety  of  issuing  patents  on 
the  same,  this  procedure  including 
appeals  within  the  Patent  Office 
from  the  Primary  Examiners  to  the 
Board  of  Examiners-in-Chief,  thence 
to  the  Commissioner  and  thence  to 
the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  the  Commissioner  in 
appeals  to  the  court  being  repre- 
sented usually  by  one  of  his  law 
examiners. 

The  Patent  Office  also  includes  the 
court  of  first  resort  in  interference 
cases,  that  is  to  say,  cases  wherein 
two  or  more  inventors  are  claiming 
the  same  patentable  subject  matter, 
and  it  is  for  the  Patent  Office  to 
decide  whether  patent  shall  issue  to 
the  applicant  whom  it  may  be  deter- 
mined was  first  to  make  the  inven- 
tion. This  procedure  also  contem- 
plates appeals  to  the  Board  of 
Examiners-in-Chief  and  thence  to 
the  Commissioner  and  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals. 

It  is  believed  that  under  the  fore- 
going heads  all  of  the  functions  of 
the  Patent  Office  can  be  classified. 

The  course  of  a  patent  application 
through  the  Patent  Office  is  ordi- 
narily a  simple  one.  The  applica- 
tion, including  the  petition,  specifica- 
tion and  oath  and  drawing  and  the 
first  Government  fee  of  $15,  being 
deposited  with  the  Financial  Clerk, 
the  application  papers  and  drawings 
find  their  way  to  the  application 
room  and  draftsmen's  room,  and 
when  the  application  is  found  in 
proper  form  is  forwarded  by  the 
chief  of  the  application  room  to  the 
Primary  Examiner  in  whose  class 
the  particular  invention  is  found  to 
belong.  The  application  is  then  ex- 
amined in  the  order  of  its  filing  in 
such  Examiner's  division,  and  if  it 
be  found  in  condition  for  allowance, 
or  when  it  is  so  found,  it  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  Issue  Division,  which 
issues  a  circular  of  allowance.  Then 
if  the  second  Government  fee  of  $20 
be  paid  into  the  Patent  Office  within 
six  months  from  the  date  of  allow- 
ance of  the  application,  the  patent 
will  in  a  .few  weeks  issue  and  be 
forwarded  to  the  applicant  or  his 


attorney.  If  objections  are  found  to 
the  application  either  in  form  or  in 
substance,  considerable  time  is  in- 
volved in  many  cases  in  adjusting 
these  matters  to  bring  the  applica- 
tion into  condition  for  allowance  or 
for  final  rejection. 

The  Primary  Examiner,  through 
one  of  his  assistants,  considers  the 
application  in  the  first  instance,  and 
if  it  is  found  allowable  by  the  Pri- 
mary Examiner,  either  in  first  form 
or  as  amended,  the  case  passes  to 
the  Issue  Division  without  consider- 
ation by  those  higher  in  authority. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  objections  re- 
lating to  form  are  found  these  may 
be  reviewed  by  petition  to  the  Com- 
missioner direct.  If  the  objections 
go  to  the  merits,  such  for  instance 
as  a  rejection  on  the  ground  .that 
the  invention  is  not  new  in  view 
of  any  particular  reference  cited, 
appeal  may  be  taken  to  the  Board 
of  Examiners-in-Chief.  'A  petition 
relating  to  form  involves  no  Gov- 
ernment fee,  while  a  petition  affect- 
ing the  merits  and  going  to  the 
Board  of  Examiners-in-Chief  calls 
for  a  Government  fee  of  $10.  Such 
is  the  course  of  a  patent  application 
when  actually  filed. 

To  aid  inventors  and  their  attor 
neys  in  determining  the  probable 
novelty  of  any  particular  invention, 
the  Patent  Office  maintains  a  Search 
Room  containing  the  U.  S.  patents 
classified  according  to  the  official 
practice  and  arranged  in  suitable 
stacks  or  racks  so  that  if  the  inven- 
tion be,  for  instance,  a  Nut  Lock, 
the  searcher  may  secure  the  bundle 
containing  patents  for  such  devices, 
or  if  it  be  a  dynamo  or  a  telephone, 
he  can  secure  the  bundle  having  the 
particular  character  of  such  devices 
to  which  the  invention  he  is  search- 
ing relates. 

The  Patent  Office  is  not  a  bureau 
of  information  and  does  not  un- 
dertake to  answer  miscellaneous  in- 
quiries relative  to  patents,  nor  to 
express  any  opinion  in  advance  of 
the  filing  of  a  formal  application  for 
patent  as  to  the  patentability  of  any 
particular  invention. 


DEPARTMENT   OF   THE    INTERIOR 


543 


COMMISSIONER    OF    PENSIONS 


The  Pension  Bureau,  which  is 
said  to  be  the  largest  bureau  in 
the  Government  service,  and  the 
only  bureau  which  occupies  a  build- 
ing erected  for  its  especial  use,  is 
the  active  agency  through  which 
there  was  paid  out  last  year  one 


There  are  now  on  the  pension  roll 
about  four  hundred  thousand  males 
and  three  hundred  thousand  widows. 
Death  is  making  sad  havoc  among 
their  numbers.  Last  year  there 
died,  of  Civil  War  soldiers,  34,252; 
and  of  widows,  19,957. 


THE   PENSION   OFFICE 


hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dol- 
lars of  pensions  to  more  than  seven 
hundred  thousand  pensioners. 

At  times  some  magazine  article 
complains  of  the  amount  of  pensions, 
but  it  will  be  noticed  by  those  who 
have  knowledge  of  the  recent  allow- 
ances in  Canada,  Australia  and 
Great  Britain,  that  the  amount  paid 
to  an  individual  here  is  less  than 
that  now  paid  in  other  countries. 
The  modern  tendency  is  to  care 
more  for  the  private  soldier.  This 
is  justified  by  two  viewpoints — one 
is  that  he  is  the  most  valuable  com- 
ponent part  of  an  army  and  should 
be  kept  efficient  and  encouraged 
both  by  good  care  of  him  and  of 
his  family.  The  other  reason  is 
humanity,  which  now  pays  more  re- 
gard to  the  humbler  member  as  a 
unit  of  society. 


Besides  the  Commissioner,  there 
are  1,200  employees  transacting  the 
necessary  business  of  the  Pension 
Bureau.  Applications  are  not  so 
numerous  as  formerly,  yet  there 
were  more  than  sixty-five  thousand 
received  during  last  year,  and  68,549 
new  certificates  were  issued.  The 
total  cost  of  administration  was  only 
1  per  cent  of  the  pensions  paid  out, 
which  is  lower  than  ever  before. 
It  is  believed  that,  under  the  present 
administration,  the  pension  laws 
have  been  faithfully  executed  in  an 
efficient  and  economic  manner. 
Every  beneficiary  has  been  given 
that  to  which  the  law  entitled  him. 

An  additional  pension  of  $10  per 
month  has  been  allowed  to  soldiers 
and  sailors  holding  medals  of  honor. 

The  Act  of  September  8,  1916,  in- 
creases from  $12  to  $20  per  month 


544 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


the  widows  of  Mexican  and  Civil 
War  soldiers  who  are  seventy  years 
of  age,  or  who  were  married  to  the 
soldier  during  the  period  of  his  serv- 
ice. That  act  also  makes  pension- 
able widows  of  Civil  War  soldiers 
who  married  prior  to  June  27,  1905, 
and  certain  remarried  widows. 

Formerly    payment    to    the    pen- 
sioner   was    delayed,    but   now    the 


check  is  delivered  to  him  on  the 
exact  date  when  due.  Recently 
methods  have  been  much  simpli- 
fied. The  expense  of  executing 
vouchers  has  been  eliminated — a 
saving  to  the  soldiers  themselves  of 
many  thousands  of  dollars — and 
they  are  no  longer  required  to  ex- 
hibit their  certificates  each  time  of 
indorsement  of  the  check. 


COMMISSIONER   OF    INDIAN    AFFAIRS 

The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Af-  Alaska),  their  education,  lands, 
fairs  has  charge  of  the  Indian  tribes  moneys,  schools,  purchase  of  sup- 
of  the  United  States  (exclusive  of  plies,  and  general  welfare. 


COMMISSIONER 

The  Commissioner  of  Education 
collects  statistics  and  general  in- 
formation showing  the  condition  and 
progress  of  education,  issues  an  an- 
nual report,  a  bulletin  in  several 
numbers  annually,  and  miscella- 
neous publications;  has  charge  of 


OF    EDUCATION 

the  schools  for  the  education  of 
native  children  in  Alaska ;  super- 
vises the  reindeer  industry  in  Alas- 
ka, and  administers  the  endowment 
fund  for  the  support  of  colleges  for 
the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  me- 
chanic arts.  See  page  255. 


UNITED    STATES    RECLAMATION    SERVICE1 


UNITED    STATES    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY* 


GENERAL    LAND    OFFICE 


The  General  Land  Office  is  the 
oldest  and  in  many  respects  the 
largest  and  most  important  Bureau 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior; 
it  has  jurisdiction  over  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  survey  and 
disposition  of  the  public  lands  of 
the  United  States,  exclusive  of 
lands  in  the  insular  possessions; 
also,  in  point  of  number  of  cases 
and  values  involved,  the  General 
Land  Office,  in  the  determination  of 
questions  with  respect  to  title  to 
public  lands,  exercises  judicial  func- 
tions of  vast  importance.  Its  inter- 
nal organization  consists  of  the 


Washington  office,  the  local  United 
States  land  offices,  the  offices  of  Sur- 
veyors General,  the  field  surveying 
organization  and  the  field  service 
organization,  making  a  total  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
branch  offices  and  headquarters, 
principally  in  the  Western  States. 
This  bureau  employs  altogether 
about  sixteen  hundred  people.  Con- 
trary to  popular  belief  the  business 
of  this  department  has  not  decreased 
in  recent  years,  and,  owing  to  new 
legislation  and  change  of  govern- 
mental policies,  its  work  is. increas- 
ingly complicated  and  exacting. 


NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  MINES 

The    National   Bureau    of   Mines,      tive   July    1,    1910. 
under   the   Department   of   the   In- 
terior, was  created  by  act  of  Con- 
gress,  approved  May   16  and  effec- 


This   act   was 

amended  by  an  act,  effective  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1913,  which  provides  that 
the  Bureau  of  Mines  is  to  be  a 


"The  work  of  the  United  States  Reclamation  Service  and  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  is  of  such  importance  that  special  chapters  on  these  subjects 
are  given  in  the  first  part  of  the  book.  See  pages  87  and  119. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE   INTERIOR 


545 


bureau  of  mining,  metallurgy  and 
mineral  technology,  and  that  the 
duty  of  the  bureau  shall  be  to  con- 
duct scientific  and  technologic  in- 
vestigations concerning  mining,  and 
the  preparation,  treatment  and 
utilization  of  mineral  substances 
with  a  view  to  improving  health 
conditions  and  increasing  safety, 
efficiency  and  economic  development, 
and  conserving  resources  through 
the  prevention  of  waste  in  the 
mining,  quarrying,  metallurgical  and 
other  mineral  industries ;  to  inquire 
into  the  economic  conditions  affect- 
ing these  industries;  to  investigate 
explosives  and  peat;  and  on  behalf 
of  the  Government  to  investigate  the 
mineral  fuels  and  unfinished  mineral 
products  belonging  to,  or  for  the  use 
of,  the  United  States,  with  a  view 
to  their  most  efficient  mining,  prep- 
aration, treatment  and  use;  and  to 
disseminate  information  concerning 
these  subjects.  The  act  further  pro- 
vides that  no  member  of  the  bureau 
shall  have  any.  personal  or  private 
interest  in  any  mine  or  the  products 
of  any  mine  under  investigation,  or 
shall  accept  employment  from  any 
private  party  for  services  in  the  ex- 
amination of  any  mine  or  private 
mineral  property,  or  issue  any  report 
as  to  the  valuation  or  the  manage- 
ment of  any  mine  or  other  private 
mineral  property.  This  provision, 
however,  does  not  apply  to  the  tem- 
porary employment  in  a  consulting 
capacity  of  experts  whose  principal 
practice  is  outside  of  the  bureau. 
Another  section  of  the  act  directs 
that  a  reasonable  fee  covering  neces- 
sary expenses  shall  be  charged  by 
the  bureau  in  making  tests  other 
than  those  for  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  or  State  govern- 
ments. 

The   inquiries   and   investigations 


being  carried  on  by  the  bureau  un- 
der the  provisions  of  this  act  cover 
a  wide  variety  of  subjects  and  are 
too  numerous  to  mention  here.  The 
chief  experiment  station  of  the  bu- 
reau is  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  Work  re- 
lating to  the  causes  and  prevention 
of  mine  explosions,  to  which  the  bu- 
reau has  given  special  attention, 
and  other  mining  problems,  includes 
laboratory  tests,  the  examination  of 
mines  and  experiments  in  an  experi- 
mental mine  near  Pittsburgh  under 
conditions  simulating  those  of  com- 
mercial operations. 

In  order  to  carry  on  investiga- 
tions and  educational  work  for 
greater  safety  in  mining,  the  Bureau 
of  Mines  has  six  mine-rescue  sta- 
tions situated  in  different  mining 
regions  of  the  country,  and  also 
operates  eight  mine-rescue  cars  and 
two  rescue  trucks.  These  cars  and 
trucks,  manned  by  trained  crews,  are 
constantly  ready  to  give  aid,  when 
requested  by  State  officials,  at  a 
mine  disaster.  The  cars  move  from 
point  to  point  in  the  regions  in  which 
they  are  stationed,  and  the  crews 
demonstrate  safe  methods  of  mining 
and  the  use  of  rescue  apparatus  and 
first-aid  appliances. 

An  act  of  Congress,  approved 
March  3,  1915,  authorizes  the  estab- 
lishment and  maintenance  under  the 
Bureau  of  Mines  of  ten  mining  ex- 
periment and  seven  mine  safety  sta- 
tions (mine  rescue  cars),  in  addi- 
tion to  those  already  established, 
not  more  than  three  of  each  class 
of  stations  to  be  established  in  any 
one  year.  It  is  expected  that  through 
these  stations  the  safety  work  of  the 
bureau  will  be  made  more  effective, 
and  that  the  investigations  for  in- 
creasing efficiency  in  the  handling 
and  utilization  of  mineral  resources 
will  be  enlarged  and  extended. 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co. 

How  Five  People  Can  Live  on  $8.03  a  Week 

Actual  Supply  for  a  Week  of  Meat,  Groceries,  Bread,  Etc. 

Flgureis  supplied  by  Dep't  of  Health,  New  York,  Nov.  17,  1916 

THE   BALANCED   RATION 


CHAPTEK    XII. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE* 

SECRETARY    OF    AGRICULTURE 

THE  Secretary  of  Agriculture  is  supervision  and  control  over  the  af 

charged  with  the  work  of  pro-  fairs  of  the  department  and  formu- 

moting  agriculture  in  its  broad-  lates    and    establishes    the    general 

est    sense.      He    exercises    general  policies  to  be  pursued. 

ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF    AGRICULTURE 

The  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agri-  assists  in  the  general  supervision  of 
culture  becomes  Acting  Secretary  in  the  work  of  the  department  at  all 
the  absence  of  the  Secretary  and  times. 

CHIEF    CLERK 

The  chief  clerk  has  general  super-  buildings,  etc.    He  is  responsible  for 

vision  of  clerks  and  employees ;  of  the  enforcement  of  the  general  regu- 

the   records  and   correspondence   of  lations    of   the    department    and    is 

the    Secretary's    office;    and    of   ex-  custodian  of  the  buildings  occupied 

penditures  from   appropriations  for  by    the   department   in    the   city    of 

miscellaneous     expenses,      rent     of  Washington. 

SOLICITOR 

The  solicitor   is  charged   by   law  department,  conducts  its  legal  work, 

(act  of  May  26,  1910)  with  the  direc-  and  represents  it  in  all  legal  mat- 

tion  of  the  legal  work  of  the  depart-  ters.     He  approves,   in   advance   of 

ment.    Accordingly,  he  acts  as  legal  issue,    all    orders    and    regulations 

adviser    to   the    Secretary    and    the  promulgated  by  the  Secretary  under 

heads  of  the  several  branches  of  the  statutory  authority. 

OFFICE    OF    FARM    MANAGEMENT 

This  office  studies  the  details  of  types  of  farming  prevailing  in  the 

farm   practice.      Its   main   object  is  various  sections  of  the  country  are 

to  improve  farm  practice  by  intro-  being  studied  in  a  number  of  locali- 

ducing  better  business  methods  and  ties,  and  a  detailed  study  of  farm 

by   applying   the   principles    of   sci-  economics  and  business  principles  is 

ence  wherever  they  are  known.    The  being  made. 

"There  is  a  special   chapter  on   "Agriculture,"   page   37. 
Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


548  OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 

APPOINTMENT    CLERK 

The    appointment    clerk    prepares  ence  with  the  Civil  Service  Commis- 

all  papers  connected  with  appoint-  sion.     He  is  the  custodian  of  oaths 

inents,  transfers,  promotions,  reduc-  of  office  and  personal  reports.     He 

tions,  details,  furloughs,  and  remov-  has    the    custody    and    use    of    the  . 

als,  and  has  charge  of  correspond-  department  seal. 

SUPPLY   DIVISION 

The  chief  of  the  supply  division  poses  of  property  turned  in  by  the 
purchases  and  distributes  stationery  various  offices  when  it  is  of  no  fur- 
and  miscellaneous  supplies  and  dis-  ther  use  to  them. 

OFFICE    OF    EXHIBITS 

The  office  of  exhibits  handles  the  the  department  in  preparing  exposi- 

correspontfence    of    the    department  tion   material ;    ships,    installs,    and 

relative  to  exhibits  at  fairs  and  ex-  cares  for  such  exhibits ;  and  investi- 

positions  of  various  kinds;  co-oper-  gates  methods  of  displaying  them  to 

ates   with  the   several   branches   of  best  advantage. 

OFFICE    OF    INFORMATION 

The  office  of  information  is  estab-  from  oral  statements  of  specialists, 

lished  to  secure  the  widest  possible  Material  so  disseminated  is  set  forth 

circulation  for  the  discoveries  and  in  such  form  as  to  attract  attentiot 

recommendations    of    the    scientists  and    lead    to   the    adoption    of    the 

and  field  workers  of  the  department,  methods   recommended.     A   Weekly 

It  gives  out  to  the  public  press  facts  News  Letter  to  Crop  Correspondents 

taken    from    publications    and    also  is  published. 

FOREST   APPEALS 

This  officer  investigates  for  the  from  decisions  of  the  Forest  Service 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  appeals  and  reports  to  the  Secretary. 

UNITED    STATES    WEATHER    BUREAU 
By   C.   F.   MARVIN 

CHIEF   U.    S.    WEATHER   BUREAU 

THE  history  of  the  Weather  ings;  the  display  of  weather,  frost 
Bureau  as  an  organization  be-  and  flood  signals  for  the  benefit  of 
gins  with  the  passage  of  the  agriculture,  commerce  and  naviga- 
act  of  Congress,  approved  February  tion;  the  gaging  and  reporting  of 
9,  1870,  which  authorized  and  re-  rivers;  the  maintenance  and  opera- 
quired  the  Secretary  of  War  to  pro-  tion  of  seacoast  telegraph  lines  and 
vide  for  the  taking  of  meteorological  the  collection  and  transmission  of 
observations  throughout  the  United  marine  intelligence  for  the  benefit 
States  and  for  giving  telegraphic  of  commerce  and  navigation ;  the  re- 
notice  on  the  Takes  and  seacoast  of  porting  of  temperature  and  rainfall 
the  approach  of  storms.  Since  its  conditions  for  the  cotton  interests, 
establishment  the  scope  of  its  work  and  the  taking  of  such  meteorologi- 
has  been  gradually  extended  until  cal  observations  as  may  be  neces- 
now  its  functions  as  defined  by  law  sary  to  establish  and  record  the  cli- 
embrace  the  forecasting  of  the  matic  conditions  of  the  United 
weather ;  the  issue  of  storm  warn-  States,  or  are  essential  for  the  prop- 


DEPARTMENT    OF   AGRICULTURE 


549 


er  execution  of  the  foregoing  duties. 
From  the  date  of  its  organization 
until  July  1,  1891,  the  weather  ser- 
vice was  conducted  as  a  branch  of 
the  Signal  Corps,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Chief  Signal  Officer  of 
the  Army,  but  on  the  date  mentioned 
it  was  transferred  to  the  Depart- 
ments of  Agriculture  and  made  a  bu- 
reau of  that  Department,  under  its 
present  designation. 

The  Weather  Bureau  is  probably 
best  known   to  the  general   public 


sphere.  The  results  of  the  twice- 
daily  observations  are  immediately 
telegraphed  to  the  Central  Office  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  where  they  are 
charted  for  study  and  interpretation 
by  experts  trained  to  forecast  weath- 
er conditions  which  may  be  expected 
to  prevail  during  the  following 
thirty-six  to  forty-eight  hours.  From 
these  data  the  forecaster,  by  com- 
parison with  preceding  reports,  is 
able  to  trace  the  paths  of  storm 
areas  from  the  time  of  their  appear- 


CENTRAL  OFFICE  OF  THE  U.  S.  WEATHER  BUREAU,   WASHINGTON,   D,   C. 


through  the  exercise  of  its  principal 
and  most  important  function,  the  is- 
sue of  the  daily  weather  forecasts. 
These  forecasts  are  based  upon 
simultaneous  observations  of  local 
weather  conditions  taken  daily  at 
8  A.  M.  and  8  P.  M.,  75th  meridian 
time,  at  about  two  hundred  regular 
observing  stations  scattered  through- 
out the  United  States  and  the  West 
Indies,  and  upon  similar  reports  re- 
ceived daily  from  various  points  in 
other  parts  of  the  northern  hemi- 


ance  to  the  moment  of  observation, 
and  approximately  determine  and 
forecast  tl^eir  subsequent  courses 
and  the  resultant  weather  conditions. 
Forecast  centers  have  also  been 
established  at  Chicago,  111.;  New 
Orleans,  La. ;  Denver,  Colo. ;  San 
Francisco,  Cal. ;  and  Portland,  Ore. 
Within  two  hours  after  the  morning 
observations  have  been  taken  the 
forecasts  are  telegraphed  from  the 
forecast  centers  to  about  1,700  prin- 
cipal distributing  points,  whence 


550 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


they  are  further  disseminated  by 
telegraph,  telephone  and  mail.  The 
forecasts  reach  nearly  100,000  ad- 
dresses daily  by  mail,  the  greater 
part  being  delivered  early  in  the 
day,  and  none  later,  as  a  rule,  than 
6  P.  M.  of  the  day  of  issue,  and  are 
available  to  more  than  5,000,000  tel- 
ephone subscribers  within  an  hour 
of  the  time  of  issue.  This  system 
of  forecast  distribution  is  wholly  un- 
der the  supervision  and  mainly  at 
the  expense  of  the  Government,  and 
is  in  addition  to  and  distinct  from 
the  distribution  effected  through  the 
press  associations  and  the  daily 
newspapers.  The  rural  free  mail  de- 
livery system  and  rural  telephone 
lines  are  also  being  utilized  to  bring 
within  the  benefits  of  this  system 
a  large  number  of  farming  com- 
munities. A  careful  comparison  of 
the  forecasts  with  the  weather  con- 
ditions occurring  over  the  regions 
and  during  the  periods  covered 
shows  that  approximately  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  forecasts  are  veri- 
fied. 

The  daily  weather  maps,  based  on 
the  data  contained  in  the  morning 
telegraphic  reports,  are  issued  as 
soon  as  practicable  after  these  re- 
ports are  received.  On  these  maps 
the  salient  features  of  the  current 
weather  conditions  throughout  the 
country  are  graphically  represented, 
accompanied  by  a  synopsis  of  these 
conditions;  in  addition  to  which 
complete  reports  from  all  the  ob- 
serving stations  are  presented  in  tab- 
ulated form.  In  order  that  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country  may  receive 
weather  data,  maps  or  bulletins  con- 
taining the  data  in  tabulated  form, 
are  issued  from  about  one  hundred 
of  the  larger  stations. 

The  ocean  meteorological  service 
aims  to  collect,  through  the  co-opera- 
tion of  vessel  masters  and  others, 
meteorological  observations  at  sea. 
The  recent  development  in  the  art  of 
radio-telegraphy  has  made  possible 
the  transmission  of  meteorological 
observations  made  by  ships  at  sea 
to  shore  stations,  thence  by  land 


lines  to  a  central  meteorological 
service.  The  Weather  Bureau  has 
organized  a  system  of  meteorological 
observations  on  vessels  navigating 
the  coastal  waters  of  the  middle  and 
South  Atlantic  States,  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  the  Caribbean  Sea,  the 
primary  object  being  to  gain  infor- 
mation of  sub-tropical  storms  which 
occasionally  traverse  the  waters 
above  named.  Distribution  of  weath- 


MARVIN  ELECTRICAL  SUNSHINE 
RECORDER 

er  information,  forecasts,  arid  warn- 
ings is  made  daily  by  radio  service 
through  the  co-operation  of  the  radio 
service  of  the  United  States  Navy. 
Although  the  two  hundred  regu- 
lar observing  stations,  each  repre- 
senting about  16,000  square  miles  of 
territory,  furnish  sufficient  data 
upon  which  to  base  the  various  fore- 
casts, observations  at  many  inter- 
mediate points  are  necessary  before 


DEPARTMENT    OF   AGRICULTURE 


551 


the  climatology  of  the  United  States 
can  be  properly  studied.  This  need 
has  given  rise  to  the  establishment 
of  an  important  and  interesting  fea- 
ture of  the  Weather  Bureau  in  its 
Climatological  Service.  This  service 
is  divided  into  forty-four  local  sec- 
tions, each,  as  a  rule,  covering  a 
single  State,  and  having  for  its  cen- 
ter a  regular  observing  station. 
These  centers  collect  temperature 
and  rainfall  observations  from  more 
than  4,000  co-operative  stations  and 
publish  these  data  in  the  form  of 
monthly  reports  which  are  given  a 
widespread  distribution.  During 
the  growing  season  (from  April  to 
September,  inclusive)  each  section 
also  receives  mail  reports  from  nu- 
merous correspondents  (aggregating 
for  all  sections  about  7,500)  con- 
cerning the  effects  of  the  weather 
upon  crops  and  farming  operations, 
these  reports  being  used  to  compile 
data  for  weekly  bulletins.  During 
the  same  season  the  Central  Office 
at  Washington  issues  a  National 
Weather  and  Crop  Bulletin  contain- 
ing a  series  of  charts  graphically 
illustrating  current  and  normal  con- 
ditions of  temperature  and  rainfall 
for  the  entire  country,  a  general 
summary  of  the  .weather,  and  brief 
reports  on  the  condition  of  the  crops 
for  each  State.  Throughout  the  cot- 
ton, corn,  wheat,  sugar  and  rice  pro- 
ducing sections  designated  centers 
receive  telegraphic  reports  of  rain- 
fall and  daily  extremes  of  tempera- 
ture from  nearby  points  for  publi- 
cation in  bulletin  form,  each  local 
center  receiving  condensed  reports 
from  all  others. 

By  the  assistance  of  several  thou- 
sand co-operative  observers,  many  of 
whom  have  maintained  local  records 
for  long  periods,  the  Weather  Bu- 
reau endeavors  to  collect  special  lo- 
cal data  and  thus  perfect  the  records 
that  are  needed  for  the  study  of  the 
relation  between  climate  and  agri- 
culture, forestry,  water  resources, 
and  other  kindred  subjects.  The  re- 
sults of  these  observations  appear  in 
detail  in  monthly  and  annual  re- 


ports published  at  the  respective  sec- 
tion centers. 

A  division  of  the  bureau,  known 
as  the  Division  of  Agricultural 
Meteorology,  has  for  its  lines  of 
work  the  application  of  meteorology 
to  the  needs  and  interests  of  agri- 
culture ;  conducting  studies  of  mete- 
orological and  climatic  conditions  in 
their  relation  to  agriculture  and  the 
growth  and  yield  of  crops ;  conduct- 
ing investigations  of  the  effect  of 


THERMOMETER     SHELTER     AND     RAIN 

GAGE 
(Outfit    of    a    "Co-operative    Observer") 

weather  and  climate  upon  plant 
growth;  determination  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  frost  warnings  and  fore- 
casts to  special  agricultural  inte- 
rests ;  conducting  studies  for  the  pro- 
tection of  crops  and  orchards  from 
frosts,  and  distributing  information 
as  to  the  effect  of  the  weather  and 
climate  on  crops,  through  the  medi- 
um of  the  National  Weather  and 
Crop  Bulletin  and  other  publications. 
Among  the  publications  of  the 
Weather  Bureau,  the  following  are 
worthy  of  special  notice : 


552 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


MARVIN   METEOROGRAPH   SENT   ALOFT 

WITH  A  KITE   FOR  TTPPER-AIR 

INVESTIGATIONS 


The  Monthly  Weather  Review, 
which  has  been  published  regularly 
since  January,  1873,  and  which  con- 
tains elaborate  meteorological  tables 
and  charts  showing  the  weather  con- 
ditions for  the  month  over  the 
United  States  and  neighboring  coun- 
tries. 

The  reports  of  the  sections  of  the 
Climate  and  Crop  Service,  showing 
in  detail  the  climatic  conditions  of 
the  month. 

The  Weekly  Weather  and  Crop 
Bulletin,  which  gives  in  detail  the 
weather  conditions  that  have  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  country  dur- 
ing the  week  and  its  effects  upon 
the  crops. 

The  occasional  bulletins,  now  num- 
bering about  seventy,  containing  the 
larger  reports  made  by  the  experts 
of  the  service. 

The  library  of  the  Weather  Bu- 
reau contains  about  32,000  books 
and  pamphlets,  consisting  principally 
of  technical  books  on  meteorology 
and  allied  sciences,  and  of  published 
climatological  data  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  It  is  available  to  all 
Weather  Bureau  officials  and  to  stu- 
dents of  meteorology  generally,  who 
either  consult  it  personally  or 
through  correspondence.  In  addition 
to  its  general  card  catalogue,  it 
keeps  up  to  date  a  catalogue  of  the 
meteorological  contents  of  the  prin- 
cipal scientific  serials  of  the  world. 


The  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief 
of  Bureau  presents  a  full  summary 
of  climatic  data  for  the  United 
States. 

The  apparatus  used  at  Weather 
Bureau  stations  for  recording  weath- 
er conditions  is  largely  the  result  of 
improvements  devised  by  the  In- 
strument Division,  to  which  is  In- 
trusted the  care  of  all  standards. 
The  kites,  meteorographs,  self-regis- 
tering instruments,  and  other  forms 
of  apparatus  devised  by  the  Weather 
Bureau  are  favorably  known 
throughout  the  world. 

The  Bureau  has  a  force  of  scien- 
tists and  trained  employees  engaged 
in  research  work  in  connection  with 
upper  air  conditions  and  solar  radia- 
tion and  investigations  in  seismol- 
ogy. 

The  extent  to  which  the  work  of 
the  Weather  Bureau,  in  the  collec- 
tion and  publication  of  data  and  the 
issue  of  weather  forecasts  and  warn- 
ings, affects  the  daily  life  of  the 
people  and  becomes  a  factor  in  their 
various  avocations  and  business  en- 
terprises, already  very  great,  is  in- 
creasing yearly. 

The  uses  made  of  the  daily  fore- 
casts are  so  numerous  and  well 
known  as  to  call  for  no  remark,  but 
the  value  to  the  manifold  business 
interests  of  the  country  of  the  pub- 
lication of  weather  data  and  the 
dissemination  of  warnings  of  excep- 
tionally severe  and  injurious  weath- 
er conditions,  such  as  storms  and 
hurricanes,  cold  waves,  frosts,  floods, 
heavy  rains  and  snows,  is  not  so 
generally  understood.  Of  the  warn- 
ings mentioned,  those  of  storms  and 
hurricanes,  issued  for  the  benefit  of 
marine  interests,  are  the  most  im- 
portant and  pecuniarily  .valuable. 
Storm  warnings  are  displayed  at 
nearly  300  points  along  the  Atlantic, 
Pacific  and  Gulf  coasts  and  the 
shores  of  the  Great  Lakes,  including 
every  port  and  harbor  of  any  con- 
siderable importance;  and  so  nearly 
perfect  has  this  service  become  that 
scarcely  a  storm  of  marked  danger 
to  maritime  interests  has  occurred 


DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE 


553 


Photo  Harris  &  Ewing 
FOBECASTING  THE  WEATHER  AT  THE  WEATHER  BUREAU,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


for  years  for  which  ample  warnings 
have  not  been  issued  from  twelve 
to  twenty-four  hours  in  advance. 
The  sailings  of  the  immense  number 
of  vessels  engaged  in  our  ocean  and 
lake  traffic  are  largely  determined 
by  these  warnings,  and  those  dis- 
played for  a  single  hurricane  are 
known  to  have  detained  in  port  on 
our  Atlantic  coast  vessels  valued, 
with  their  cargoes,  at  over  $30,- 
000,000. 

The  warnings  of  those  sudden  and 
destructive  temperature  changes 
known  as  cold  waves  are  probably 
next  in  importance.  These  warnings, 
which  are  issued  from  twenty-four 
to  thirty-six  hours  in  advance,  are 
disseminated  throughout  the  threat- 
ened regions  by  means  of  flags  dis- 
played on  regular  Weather  Bureau 
and  sub-display  stations,  by  tele- 
graph, telephone,  and  mail  service  to 
all  places  receiving  daily  forecasts, 
and  to  a  large  number  of  special 
addresses  in  addition.  The  beneficial 


results  of  these  warnings  are  mani- 
fold. Precautions  are  taken  for  the 
safeguarding  of  personal  comfort 
and  health,  and  the  protection  from 
freezing  of  produce  of  all  kinds, 
steam  and  water  pipes,  hot  house 
plants,  and  flowers.  Railroads  regu- 
late the  size  and  movement  of  their 
freight  trains,  ice  men  prepare  for 
harvesting,  and  many  plans  for  busi- 
ness and  pleasure  are  made  on  the 
expectation  of  the  conditions  fore- 
cast. The  warnings  issued  in  Janu- 
ary, 1896,  for  a  single  cold  wave  of 
exceptional  severity  and  extent,  re- 
sulted, according  to  reports,  in  the 
saving  of  over  $3,500,000  in  the  pro- 
tection of  property  from  injury  or 
destruction. 

The  warnings  of  frost  and  freez- 
ing weather  are  also  of  immense 
value,  particularly  to  the  fruit, 
sugar,  tobacco,  cranberry  and  mar- 
ket gardening  interests.  The  early 
truck  raising  industry,  so  extensive- 
ly carried  on  in  the  regions  border- 


554 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


WEATHER    BUREAU    STATION    OP    THE 
"OBSERVATORY"  TYPE  AT  PEORIA 


ing  on  the  Gulf  and  South  Atlantic 
coasts,  and  in  Florida,  and  which 
has  increased  so  greatly  in  the  last 
few  years,  is  largely  dependent  for 
its  success  on  the  co-operation  of 
the  Weather  Bureau  in  this  particu- 
lar, and  the  growers  of  citrus  and 
other  fruits  liable  to  injury  by 
frosts  or  freezing  weather  have  in- 
vested large  sums  in  tents,  screens, 
heating,  smudging,  and  irrigating  ap- 
paratus for  the  protection  of  their 
groves  and  orchards,  which  they  put 
into  use  when  notified  by  the  bureau 
of  the  expected  occurrence  of  in- 
juriously low  temperatures. 

The  commerce  of  our  rivers  is 
greatly  aided  and  lives  and  property 
in  regions  subject  to  overflow  are 
protected  by  the  publication  of  the 
river  stages  and  the  issue  of  river 
and  flood  forecasts  based  on  reports 
received  from  about  five  hundred 
special  river  and  rainfall  stations. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  flood  of  1897 
in  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley  live 
stock  and  other  movable  property 
to  the  estimated  value  of  about 
$15,000,000  was  removed  from  the 
inundated  regions  prioi  to  the  flood, 
as  a  result  of  the  warnings  by  the 
bureau  a  week  in  advance  of  its 
occurrence. 

In  the  raisin-growing  districts  of 
California  rain  forecasts  are  of 
great  value.  The  raisin  crop  while 
growing  is  extremely  susceptible  to 
injury  from  rain,  and  the  warnings 


enable  the  producers  to  protect  the 
fruit  by  stacking  and  covering  the 
trays.  The  accuracy  of  the  rain  fore- 
casts for  this  region  and  the  system 
for  their  distribution  have  been  such 
that  practically  no  loss  from  this 
cause  has  occurred  for  years. 

Shippers  of  perishable  produce 
and  goods  liable  to  injury  by  heat 
or  cold  are  guided  largely  by  the 
weather  reports  in  making  ship- 
ments and  in  directing  their  move- 
ments while  on  the  road.  Large 
dealers  in  produce,  by  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  daily  reports  and  the 
weekly  crop  bulletins,  inform  them- 
selves as  to  the  regions  where  con- 
ditions most  favorable  for  certain 
crops  have  occurred,  and  are  thus 
enabled  to  judge  of  the  probable  sup- 
ply and  purchase  to  advantage.  Con- 
structors of  waterworks,  bridges, 
culverts,  and  sewers  consult  the  rain- 
fall records  to  ascertain  the  maxi- 
mum water  flow  they  will  have  to 
allow  for.  Architects  of  iron  and 
steel  structures  and  tall  buildings 
study  the  records  of  maximum  and 
minimum  temperatures  and  wind 
velocity,  in  order  to  estimate  the 
contraction  and  expansion  and 
amount  of  wind  pressure  their  build- 
ings must  be  prepared  to  withstand. 

From  the  information  as  to  clima- 
tic conditions  made  known  through 
the  reports,  invalids  and  tourists  are 
enabled  to  select  the  locations  best 
suited  to  their  health  and  pleasure, 
and  manufacturers  and  agricultur- 
ists the  regions  best  adapted  for  the 
carrying  on  of  their  particular  in- 
dustries. By  the  recent  expansion  of 


STREET  WEATHER   MAP,    ATLANTIC 
CITY,   N,  J, 


DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE 


555 


the  system  of  snowfall  observations 
throughout  the  mountain  regions  ad- 
jacent to  the  Great  Plains,  it  has 
been  made  possible  to  forecast  the 
probable  flow  in  the  rivers  of  the 
arid  regions,  a  factor  of  great  im- 
portance in  irrigation.  The  records 
of  the  bureau  are  of  frequent  use 
as  evidence  in  courts  of  law,  for 
which  purpose  they  have  been  de- 
cided competent  evidence  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States. 
The  conduct  of  the  regular  sta- 
tions of  observations  outside  of 


Washington  requires  the  constant 
services  of  about  six  hundred,  and 
the  business  of  the  Central  Office  at 
Washington  of  about  two  hundred 
employees.  The  annual  disburse- 
ments of  the  bureau  amount  to  about 
$1,600,000. 

The  numerous  offices  of  the  bureau 
throughout  the  country  are  always 
open  during  business  hours  and  the 
public  are  cordially  invited  to  visit 
them  and  avail  themselves  of  the 
information  contained  in  the  records 
there  on  file. 


BUREAU    OF    ANIMAL    INDUSTRY 


The  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry 
has  charge  of  the  work  of  the  de- 
partment relating  to  the  live-stock 
industry.  In  general  it  deals  with 
the  investigation,  control,  and  eradi- 


cation of  diseases  of  animals,  the  in- 
spection and  quarantine  of  live 
stock,  the  inspection  of  meat  and 
meat  food  products,  and  with  animal 
husbandry  and  dairying. 


BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY 


The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  stu- 
dies plant  life  -in  all  its  delations  to 
agriculture.  The  scientific  work  of 
the  bureau  is  divided  into  twenty- 
seven  distinct  groups,  over  each  of 
which  is  placed  a  scientifically 
trained  officer,  who  reports  directly 
to  the  chief  and  assistant  chief  of 


the  bureau.  The  work  of  the  bureau 
is  conducted  on  the  project  plan,  the 
investigations  under  each  of  the 
offices  being  arranged  by  group  pro- 
jects consisting  of  closely  related 
lines  of  work,  which  group  of 
projects  are  still  further  divided 
into  projects. 


THE    WORK    OF   THE    FOREST    SERVICE1 


The  Forest  Service  is  charged 
with  the  administration  and  pro- 
tection of  the  152  National  forests. 
These  forests  comprise  over  155 
million  acres  of  land,  have  an  esti- 
mated stand  of  600  billion  board 
feet  of  timber,  supply  range  for 
14  million  head  of  livestock,  and 
contain  water  power  valued  at  about 
$200,000,000.  In  addition  to  caring 
for  the  National  forests,  the  Forest 
Service  conducts  investigations  of 
improved  methods  of  utilizing  and 
marketing  all  classes  of  forest  prod- 
ucts ;  carries  on  studies  to  determine 
possible  uses  for  wood  waste,  and 


co-operates  with  private  individuals 
and  corporations  in  solving  prob- 
lems relative  to  the  use  of  wood  in 
general.  Under  the  provisions  of 
the  Weeks  Law,  the  Forest  Service 
examines  lands  in  the  Southern  Ap- 
palachian and  White  Mountain  re- 
gions which  are  offered  for  sale  to 
the  Government  and  protects  and  ad- 
ministers such  lands  after  their  pur- 
chase, in  addition  to  co-operating 
with  various  States  in  forest  fire 
protection.  Finally,  information  in 
regard  to  the  relation  of  forests  to 
the  general  welfare  is  collected  and 
disseminated. 


"This  subject  is  so  important  that  a  special  illustrate^  chapter  will  be  foun<J 
in  the  first  part  of  this  book.     See  page  75. 


556 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


BUREAU    OF    CHEMISTRY 

The  Bureau  of  Chemistry  is  con-      istry   of  public  interest,   and   other 
cerned  with  analytical  work  and  in-      chemical   investigations   referred   to 

it    by    the    Department    of   Agricul- 


vestigation  under  the  food  and  drugs 
act,  questions  of  agricultural  chem- 


ture. 


BUREAU    OF    SOILS 


The  Bureau  of  Soils  investigates 
the  relation  of  soils  to  climate  and 
organic  life;  studies  the  texture 
and  composition  of  soils  in  field  and 
laboratory;  maps  the  soils;  studies 


the  cause  and  means  of  preventing 
the  rise  of  alkali  in  soils  of  irri- 
gated areas,  and  the  relation  of 
soils  to  seepage  and  drainage  con- 
ditions. 


SOIL    FERTILIZER    INVESTIGATIONS 


PLANT   HOUSE 


BUREAU    OF 

The  Bureau  of  Entomology 
studies  insects;  experiments  with 
the  introduction  into  the  United 
States  of  beneficial  insects;  makes 
tests  with  insecticides  and  insecti- 
cide machinery;  identifies  insects 
sent  in  by  inquirers.  It  is  prac- 
tically solely  a  research  organization 
and  studies  the  insects  which  are 


ENTOMOLOGY 

injurious  to  various  crops  and  do- 
mestic animals,  and  to  man  himself, 
in  the  hope  of  learning  the  cheapest 
and  most  effective  remedies  and  pre- 
ventives. It  expends  an  annual 
appropriation  of  about  $850,000,  and 
employs  some  six  hundred  men, 
more  than  two  hundred  of  whom  are 
scientifically  trained. 


BUREAU   OF   BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


The  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Bio- 
logical Survey  is  distributed  among 
four  divisions,  dealing  with  the  fol- 
lowing matters:  (1)  Study  of 
birds  and  mammals  in  their  rela- 
tion to  agriculture,  their  food  hab- 
its, etc.,  and  recommendation  oi 
measures  for  the  preservation  of  ben- 
eficial species  and  the  destruction  of 
harmful  species,  also  experiments  in 


fur  farming;  (2)  making  biological 
surveys,  study  of  geographic  distri- 
bution of  animals  and  plants,  and 
mapping  natural  life  zones;  (3)  car- 
rying into  effect  the  Federal  laws 
protecting  game  and  regulating  the 
importation  of  foreign  birds  and 
animals;  and  (4)  general  super- 
vision of  the  Federal  migratory 
bird  law. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 


557 


SPRAYING    TREES   IS  A   GREAT  HELP   TO   THE  FARMER 


DIVISION    OF    ACCOUNTS    AND    DISBURSEMENTS 


This   division  has   charge   of  the 
disbursement    of    public    funds    ap- 


propriated  for   the   Department   of 
Agriculture. 


DIVISION   OF    PUBLICATIONS 


The  Division  of  Publications  con- 
ducts all  business  of  the  depart- 
ment transacted  with  the  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office;  has  general 


supervision  of  the  printing,  index- 
ing, binding,  and  distribution  of 
publications,  and  the  maintenance 
of  mailing  lists. 


BUREAU   OF   CROP   ESTIMATES 


The  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates 
issues  the  monthly  crop  reports 
based  on  data  collected  by  sal- 
aried field  agents  and  a  corps  of 
approximately  150,000  voluntary 
crop  reporters,  every  State,  coun- 
ty and  agricultural  township  being 
represented.  The  monthly  crop  re- 
ports contain  annual  estimates  of 
numbers  of  different  classes  of  live 
stock  on  farms  and  losses  due  to 
disease  and  exposure,  annual  esti- 
mates of  acreage  planted  and  acre- 
age harvested  of  the  principal  crops, 
monthly  reports  of  the  condition  of 


about  sixty  different  crops  during 
the  growing  season,  monthly  fore- 
casts of  yields  per  acre  and  total 
production,  monthly  reports  of  farm 
prices  of  all  crops  and  classes  of 
live  stock,  and  in  December  esti- 
mates of  total  production  of  all  the 
principal  crops.  The  monthly  re- 
ports of  condition  and  forecasts  of 
production  are  issued  to  the  press 
associations  in  Washington  and  tele- 
graphed to  the  Weather  Bureau  Sta- 
tion Directors  in  all  the  States  for 
prompt  dissemination  to  the  local 
press,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year 


558 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


annual  estimates  of  crop  and  live 
stock  production  are  published  in 
the  Yearbook  of  the  Department. 
The  bureau  also  furnishes  estimates 


timates  for  all  adhering  countries, 
which  are  issued  to  the  press 
through  the  Office  of  Information. 
The  bureau  compiles  statistics  and 


HOW    A    WELL    PACKED    AND    A    POORLY    PACKED    BASKET 
OF    LETTUCE    ARRIVED    AT    MARKET 


of  the  United  States  crops  to  the 
International  Institute  of  Agricul- 
ture at  Rome,  Italy,  and  in  return 
receives  from  the  Institute  crop  es- 


furnishes  information  relating  to  the 
agriculture  of  the  United  States  and 
foreign  countries  in  response  to 
special  inquiries. 


LIBRARY 

The  department  library   contains      standard  reference  books.     Periodi- 


137,000  books  and  pamphlets,  includ- 
ing an  extensive  collection  on  agri- 
culture, a  large  and  representative 
collection  on  the  sciences  related  to 


cals  currently  received  number  2,337. 
A  dictionary  catalogue  is  kept  on 
cards,  which  number  about  325,000. 
The  librarian  has  charge  of  the 


agriculture,  and  a  good  collection  of      foreign  mailing  lists. 


STATES   RELATIONS    SERVICE 


The  States  Relations  Service  of 
the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  administers  the  Hatch 
and  Adams  acts  providing  Feder- 
al aid  for  the  State  agricultural 
experiment  stations  and  the  Smith- 
Lever  act  providing  for  co-opera- 
tive extension  work  in  agriculture 
and  home  economics.  It  also  has 
charge  of  the  farmers'  co-opera- 
tive demonstration  work  conducted 
by  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 


makes  investigations  relating  to 
agricultural  schools,  farmers'  in- 
stitutes, and  home  economics,  and 
directs  the  work  of  the  agricultural 
experiment  stations  in  Alaska,  Ha- 
waii, Porto  Rico  and  Guam.  The 
service  issues  Experiment  Station 
Record,  a  periodical  technical  re- 
view of  the  world's  scientific  litera- 
ture pertaining  to  agriculture  be- 
sides various  publications  relating 
to  its  special  lines  of  work. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 


559 


OFFICE   OF    PUBLIC    ROADS    AND   RURAL   ENGINEERING* 


The  Office  of  Public  Roads  and 
Rural  Engineering  has  charge  of 
all  work  within  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  which  is  of  an  ag- 
ricultural nature  involving  engi- 
neering or  mechanical  principles,  to- 
gether with  the  supervision  of  all 
road  work  under  the  Federal  Aid 
Road  Act.  For  carrying  out  this 
work  the  office  is  divided  into  two 
main  branches,  known  respectively 
as  (1)  Management  and  Economics, 
(2)  Engineering,  and  these  are  sub- 
divided into  lines  of  work  as  fol- 
lows :  Management ;  Engineering 
Economics;  Road  Materials  Tests 
and  Research;  Highway  Construc- 
tion and  Maintenance ;  Irrigation  ; 
Drainage;  Rural  Engineering.  For 
convenience  in  Federal  Aid  road 
work  ten  field  districts  have  been 
established,  and  in  addition  to  the 
general  organization  there  are  two 
general  inspectors  who  report  to  the 
director  of  the  office.  With  regard 
to  character  the  work  may,  however, 
be  more  conveniently  grouped  into 
three  general  classes,  as  follows : 
(1)  Education  or  extension ;  (2)  in- 
vestigations or  research;  and  (3) 
the  supervision  of  the  road  work 
under  the  Federal  Aid  Road  Act, 
the  administration  of  which  was 
placed  by  Congress  under  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture. 

The  educational  or  extension  work 
includes  reaching  the  people  by 
means  of  lectures,  addresses,  the 
publication  of  bulletins,  the  exhibi- 
tion of  models,  etc.,  and  thus  teach- 
ing the  economic  value  of  science 
and  experience  in  the  improvement 
and  care  of  roads,  the  necessity  and 
the  methods  for  obtaining  adequate 
land  drainage,  the  economic  impor- 
tance of  farm  irrigation  and  practi- 
cal methods,  the  meaning  and  pos- 
sibilities of  modern  farm  conveni- 
ences, not  for  the  farm  only,  but  also 
for  the  farm  home,  and  the  intelli- 
gent utilization  of  farm  equipment 
and  machinery. 


Special  advice  and  assistance  is 
also  frequently  given  where  the 
problems  to  be  solved  involve  a 
knowledge  of  community  and  co-op- 
erative administration  and  of  meth- 
ods for  planning  and  financing  such 
works  as  a  better  system  of  roads 
or  the  irrigation  or  drainage  of  a 
district.  Here  the  questions  are 
specific  rather  than  general  and  the 
lecturer  gives  way  to  the  engineer. 
Not  infrequently  the  assistance  takes 
the  form  of  an  actual  demonstration 
of  construction  under  Government 
supervision.  In  fact,  the  office  then 
becomes  practically  an  object  lesson 
school  for  road  construction,  the 
proper  methods  of  farm  irrigation 
or  land  drainage. 

The  research  and  experimental 
work  of  the  office  has  become  ex- 
ceedingly important  and  varied  by 
reason  of  the  many  problems,  not 
only  in  road  construction  and  main- 
tenance, to  which  modern  traffic  con- 
ditions have  given  rise,  but  also  in 
connection  with  the  drainage  and  ir- 
rigation of  agricultural  lands  and  in 
the  development  of  the  various  struc- 
tures, appliances  and  equipment 
necessary  for  adequately  conducting 
farm  operations.  Proper  co-ordina- 
tion between  the  investigations  con- 
ducted in  the  laboratories  and  the 
results  obtained  from  field  experi- 
ments and  actual  practice  is  con- 
stantly sought,  and  the  laboratories 
have  been  specially  equipped  so  as 
to  further  this  object. 

Under  the  Federal  Aid  Road  Act 
of  July  11,  1916,  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  is  authorized  to  co-op- 
erate with  the  States  through  their 
respective  State  highway  depart- 
ments in  the  construction  and  im- 
provement of  rural  post  roads.  The 
act  provides  for  a  comprehensive 
program  extending  over  a  period  of 
five  years,  with  an  appropriation  of 
$5,000,000  for  the  fiscal  year  1917, 
and  increasing  annually  by  $5,- 
000,000  to  $25,000,000  for  the  fiscal 


"The  subject  of  "Good  Roads"  forms  a  chapter.     See   page   103. 


560 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


year  1921.  The  appropriations  are 
apportioned  to  the  several  States  on 
the  basis  of  population,  area,  and 
mileage  of  rural  free  delivery  and 
star  routes,  each  factor  having  a 
weight  of  one-third.  The  amount  ap- 
portioned by  the  Federal  Govern- 


ment must  be  at  least  duplicated  by 
the  State.  The  same  act  also  pro- 
vides for  an  annual  appropriation  of 
$1,000,000  for  a  period  of  ten  years 
for  the  construction  of  roads  and 
trails  within  or  partly  within  the 
national  forest  reserves. 


OFFICE    OF    MARKETS    AND    RURAL    ORGANIZATION 


This  office  secures  and  distrib- 
utes information  regarding  the  mar- 
keting and  distributing  of  farm 
and  non-manufactured  food  prod- 
ucts. It  conducts  a  demonstration 
telegraphic  market  news  service  re- 
garding fruits  and  vegetables,  and 


selves  in  matters  of  rural  market- 
ing, credit,  insurance,  and  communi- 
cation. It  co-operates  with  various 
States  in  conducting  marketing  in- 
vestigations. Under  authority  given 
to  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  by 
law  it  is  responsible  to  him  for  the 


COMBINATION  PACKAGE   FOR   POSTAL   DELIVERY   OF   EGGS, 
BUTTER  AND  CELERY  OR  CHICKENS 


a  service  by  mail  concerning  the 
commercial  surpluses  of  some  other 
less  perishable  crops.  It  is  begin- 
ning a  similar  service  upon  live 
stock  and  meats.  Co-operation 
among  farmers  is  studied,  with  a 
view  to  helping  them  to  help  them- 


proper  enforcement  of  the  United 
States  Cotton  Futures  Act  and  tho 
Warehouse  Act,  and  in  co-operation 
with  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry 
of  the  enforcement  of  the  Grain 
Standards  Act.  This  office  is  being 
appreciated. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 


SECRETARY   OF   COMMERCE 


THE  Secretary  of  Commerce  is 
charged  with  the  work  of  pro- 
moting  the   commerce   of   the 
United  States  and  its  mining,  man- 
ufacturing,   shipping,    fishery,    and 
transportation  interests.    His  duties 
also  comprise  the  administration  of 
the  Lighthouse  Service  and  the  aid 
and  protection  to  shipping  thereby; 
the  taking  of  the  census  and  the  col- 


control  of  the  Alaskan  fur-seal, 
salmon,  and  other  fisheries;  the  ju- 
risdiction over  merchant  vessels, 
their  registry,  licensing,  measure- 
ment, entry,  clearance,  transfers, 
movement  of  their  cargoes  and  pas- 
sengers, and  laws  relating  thereto, 
and  to  seamen  of  the  United  States ; 
the  regulation  of  the  enforcement 
and  execution  of  the  act  of  Congress 


Photo  Brown  &  Dawson 
THE   MIGHTY 


•IMPERATOR"   STEAMING  PAST  THE   GREATEST 
CREATIONS  ON  LAND 


lection  and  publication  of  statistical 
information  connected  therewith ; 
the  making  of  coast  and  geodetic  sur- 
veys; the  collecting  of  statistics  re- 
lating to  foreign  and  domestic  com- 
merce ;  the  inspection  of  steamboats, 
and  the  enforcement  of  laws  relating 
thereto  for  the  protection  of  life  and 
property  ;  the  supervision  of  the  fish- 
eries as  administered  by  the  Federal 
Government;  the  supervision  and 


relating  to  the  equipment  of  ocean 
steamers  with  apparatus  and  opera- 
tors for  wireless  communication  ;  the 
custody,  construction,  maintenance, 
and  application  of  standards  of 
weights  and  measurements;  the 
gathering  and  supplying  of  informa- 
tion regarding  industries  and  mar- 
kets for  the  fostering  of  manufac- 
turing; and  the  formulation  (in  con- 
junction with  the  Secretaries  of  Ag- 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Inc. 


562  OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 

riculture  and  the  Treasury )  of  regu-  in  relation  to  the  duties  and  autho- 

lations  for  the  enforcement  of  the  rity    conferred    by    law    upon    such 

food  and  drugs  act  of  1906  and  the  bureau,  office,  officer,  board,  branch, 

insecticide    act    of    1910.      He    has  or   division    of    the   public    service, 

power   to   call    upon    other    depart-  whether    of    appellate    or    advisory 

ments  for  statistical  data  obtained  character  or  otherwise,  are  vested  in 

by  them.  and  exercised  by  the  Secretary  of 

For    the    proper    accomplishment  Commerce. 

of  any  or  all  of  the  aforesaid  The  act  creating  the  Department 
work  it  is  by  law  provided  that  of  Labor,  approved  March  4,  1913, 
all  duties  performed,  and  all  the  changed  the  name  of  the  Department 
powers  and  authority  possessed  of  Commerce  and  Labor  to  the  De- 
or  exercised,  at  the  date  of  the  partment  of  Commerce.  Under  the 
creation  of  said  department,  by  terms  of  this  act  the  Bureau  of  La- 
the head  of  any  executive  depart-  bor,  Bureau  of  Immigration,  Divi- 
ment  in  and  over  any  bureau,  office,  sion  of  Naturalization,  and  Chil- 
officer,  board,  branch,  or  division  of  dren's  Bureau  were  detached  from 
the  public  service  transferred  to  said  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
department,  or  any  business  arising  Labor  and  organized  as  the  new  De- 
tberefrom  or  pertaining  thereto,  or  partment  of  Labor. 

ASSISTANT    SECRETARY   OP   COMMERCE 

The  Assistant  Secretary  performs  such  required    by    law.      In    the    absence    of 

duties  as  shall  be  prescribed  from  time  the   Secretary   he   acts   as    head    of   the 

to    time    by    the    Secretary    or    may    be  department. 

CHIEF  CLERK 

The  chief  clerk  is  charged  with  the  the  appropriations  for  contingent  ex- 
general  supervision  of  the  clerks  and  penses  and  rents ;  the  receipt,  distribu- 
employees  of  the  department ;  the  en-  tion,  and  transmission  of  the  mail ;  the 
forcement  of  the  general  regulations  of  supervision  of  the  library  and  the  stock 
the  department ;  the  superintendency  of  and  shipping  section  of  the  department ; 
all  buildings  occupied  by  the  department  and  the  discharge  of  all  business  of  the 
in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  the  gen-  office  of  the  Secretary  not  otherwise 
eral  supervision  of  all  expenditures  from  assigned. 

DISBURSING    CLERK 

The  disbursing  clerk  is  charged  by  the  issuing,    recording,'   and    accounting    for 

Secretary  of  Commerce  with  the  duty  of  Government   requests   for   transportation 

preparing    all    requisitions    for    the    ad-  issued  to  officers  of  the  department  for 

vance    of   public    funds    from    appropria-  official    travel ;    the    audit    and    payment 

tions   for   the   Department   of   Commerce  of  all  vouchers  and  accounts   submitted 

to    disbursing    clerks    and    special    dis-  from    the    various    offices,    bureaus,    and 

bursing    agents    charged    with    the    dis-  services   of   the   department    (except   the 

bursement  of  public  funds ;  the  keeping  Coast    and    Geodetic    Survey    and    those 

of  appropriation  ledgers  relating  to  the  services       having       special       disbursing 

advance  and  expenditure  of  all  items  of  agents)  ;  and  the  general  accounting  of 

appropriations.      He   has    charge   of   the  the   department. 

APPOINTMENT   DIVISION 

The  Chief  of  the  Appointment  Division  preparation  and  submission  to  the  Sec- 
ts charged  by  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  retary  of  all  material  for  the  Official 
with  the  supervision  of  matters  relating  Register,  and  the  custody  of  oaths  of 
to  appointments,  transfers,  promotions,  office,  records  pertaining  to  official  bonds, 
reductions,  removals,  and  all  other  service  records  of  officers  and  employees, 
changes  in  the  personnel,  including  ap-  correspondence  and  reports  relating  to 
plications  for  positions  and  recommen-  personnel,  reports  of  bureau  officers 
dations  concerning  the  same,  and  the  respecting  efficiency  of  employees,  and 
correspondence  connected  therewith  ;  the  records  relating  to  leaves  of  absence. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 


563 


DIVISION    OP    PUBLICATIONS 


The  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Publi- 
cations is  charged  by  the  Secretary  of 
Commerce  with  the  conduct  of  all  busi- 
ness the  department  transacts  with  the 
Government  Printing  Office  ;  the  general 
supervision  of  printing,  including  the 
editing  and  preparation  of  copy,  illus- 


trating and  binding,  the  distribution  of 
publications,  and  the  maintenance  of 
mailing  lists.  The  advertising  done  by 
the  department  is  in  his  charge.  He  also 
keeps  a  record  of  all  expenditures  for 
publishing  work  of  the  department  and 
conducts  the  correspondence  it  entails. 


DIVISION    OF    SUPPLIES 


Under  the  direction  of  the  chief  clerk 
the  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Supplies  has 
personal  supervision  of  all  the  work  in- 
cident to  the  purchase  and  distribution 
of  supplies  for  the  department  proper 
and  for  the  services  of  the  department 
outside  of  Washington,  and  of  the  keep- 
ing of  detailed  accounts  of  all  expendi- 
tures from  the  appropriation  for  con- 


tingent expenses  of  the  department.  He 
receives,  verifies,  and  preserves  the  semi- 
annual returns  of  property  from  the 
offices  and  bureaus  of  the  department 
which  are  supplied  from  the  contingent 
appropriation,  and  examines  and  reports 
on  the  semi-annual  property  returns  of 
all  other  bureaus  and  services  of  the 
department. 


BUREAU    OF    FOREIGN    AND    DOMESTIC    COMMERCE* 


The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Do- 
mestic Commerce  is  concerned  pri- 
marily with  the  collection  of  infor- 
mation concerning  foreign  markets 
and  the  dissemination  of  this  infor- 
mation for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
American  commercial  interests.  For 
the  collection  of  information  the 
bureau  depends  chiefly  upon  the 
American  consular  service,  upon  the 
ten  commercial  attaches  appointed 
by  the  bureau,  and  upon  a  corps  of 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  traveling  spe- 
cial agents. 

The  consuls  submit  reports  to  the 
State  Department  on  a  variety  of 
commercial  subjects,  and  once  a 
year  prepare  a  review  of  the  com- 
mercial and  industrial  activities  of 
the  district  to  which  they  are  as- 
signed. These  reports  are  turned 
over  to  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce  for  publication. 

There  are  commercial  attache's  at 
London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Petrograd, 
Peking,  Melbourne,  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Buenos  Aires,  Lima,  and  Santiago 
(Chile).  They  are  attached  to  the 
embassies  or  legations,  but  confine 
their  attention  to  commercial  affairs. 
They  have  been  termed  "business 
diplomats"  and  "ambassadors  of  in- 
dustry." This  service  has  recently 
completed  a  world-wide  survey  of 


the  markets  for  American  hardware, 
the  first  that  has  ever  been  made. 

The  special  agents  are  specialists. 
If  it  is  desired  to  learn  the  possibil- 
ities of  selling  boots  and  shoes  in 
South  America,  for  instance,  a  man 
is  selected  by  examination  who 
knows  the  business  thoroughly,  who 
can  speak  Spanish  fluently,  and  who 
can  report  well  what  he  learns.  This 
man  is  then  sent  to  South  American 
countries  to  spend  a  year  or  two 
studying  the  subject.  Since  the  war 
started  the  activities  of  the  special 
agents  have  been  largely  centered  in 
South  America  and  the  Far  East. 

The  information  gathered  by  the 
consuls,  attaches  and  agents  is  dis- 
tributed from  the  central  office  at 
Washington.  The  shorter  current 
reports  are  published  in  the  daily 
"Commerce  Reports,"  which 'has  a 
paid  circulation  of  nearly  10,000. 
The  longer  and  more  specialized  re- 
ports are  published  in  the  form  of 
monographs,  ranging  in  length  from 
16  to  500  pages.  There  are  books  of 
this  kind  on  the  cotton-goods  mar- 
kets of  nearly  every  country  in  the 
world.  The  reports  of  the  attaches 
on  the  hardware  markets  are  being 
published  in  this  form.  Specific  op- 
portunities to  secure  foreign  busi- 
ness are  published  as  "Trade  Oppor- 


*See  page  231  for  "The  Recent  Development  of  American  Commerce,"  by  Secre- 
tary Redfield,  and  "Commercial  and  Industrial  Preparedness,"  by  Dr.  E.  E.  Pratt, 
Chief  of  the  Bureau,  page  245. 


564 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


t  unities,"  on  the  back  page  of  "Com- 
merce Reports,"  with  names  and  ad- 
dresses omitted.  The  information 
withheld  can  be  obtained  by  any 
American  firm  of  known  standing 
upon  application  to  the  bureau. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
worth  of  business  is  brought  to  the 
United  States  in  this  manner.  Upon 
occasion  special  bulletins  are  sent  to 
manufacturers  and  exporters. 

To  facilitate  the  distribution  of 
trade  information  the  bureau  has  re- 
cently established  district  offices  at 
New  York,  Boston,  Atlanta,  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Seattle.  What  are  termed 
"co-operative  offices"  have  been  es- 


tablished at  Philadelphia,  Chatta- 
nooga, Cincinnati,  Cleveland.  Los 
Angeles  and  Portland,  Ore.  These 
co-operative  offices  are  in  reality  for- 
eign-trade departments  of  the  local 
chambers  of  commerce  which  have 
made  special  arrangements  to  fur- 
nish the  same  information  service 
in  their  districts  as  the  regular  dis- 
trict offices  furnish  in  theirs. 

The  foreign-trade  statistics  used 
so  extensively  in  the  public  press  are 
compiled  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Commerce  from  cus- 
tom house  documents,  in  co-opera- 
tion with  the  Treasury  Department. 
These  statistics  are  published  month- 
ly, quarterly,  and  yearly. 


THE    BUREAU    OP    THE    CENSUS 


A  census  of  the  population  of 
the  United  States  has  been  taken 
decennially  by  the  Federal  Oov- 


CENSUS  TABULATING  MACHINE 

ernment,  beginning  in  1790.  The 
Constitutional  requirement  of  a  de- 
cennial census  is  found  in  Article 
1,  Section  3,  which  directs  that  Rep- 


resentatives and  direct  taxes  shall 
be  apportioned  among  the  several 
States  according  to  their  respective 
numbers,  as  ascertained  by  actual 
enumeration,  to  be  made  once  in 
ten  years. 

From  decade  to  decade  the  scope 
of  the  census  was  extended  to  in- 
clude not  only  a  great  amount  of 
detail  with  respect  to  the  population 
but  also  other  entirely  distinct  lines 
of  inquiry,  such  as  agriculture, 
manufactures,  etc. 

In  1902  the  Census  Office  was  by 
law  made  a  permanent  branch  of 
the  Department  of  the  Interior  un- 
der the  name  "Bureau  of  the  Cen- 
sus." A  year  later  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  newly  created  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and 
since  March  4,  1913,  it  has  been  a 
bureau  of  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce. 

The  last  decennial  census  covered 
the  subjects  of  population,  agricul- 
ture, manufactures  and  mines  and 
quarries  and  oil  and  gas  wells. 

During  the  years  intervening  be- 
tween decennial  censuses  the  bu- 
reau conducts  decennial  inquiries  re- 
lating to  wealth,  debt  and  taxation, 
to  dependent,  defective  and  delin- 
quent classes,  to  religious  bodies,  to 
fisheries  and  to  transportation  by 
water;  quinquennial  inquiries  in  re- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 


565 


gard  to  manufactures,  central  elec- 
tric light  and  power  stations,  street 
and  electric  railways  and  telegraphs 
and  telephones ;  annual  collections 
of  birth  and  death  statistics  and  of 
financial  and  other  statistics  of 
cities;  semi-annual  inquiries  as  to 
stocks  of  leaf  tobacco  held  by  manu- 


The  Census  Bureau  has  developed 
its  tabulating  machinery  to  an 
extraordinarily  high  degree  of  effi- 
ciency, so  that  by  its  aid  the  aver- 
age output  of  the  clerks  engaged  in 
routine  tabulation  is  increased 
many  fold.  The  illustration  on  the 
preceding  page  shows  the  machine 


Photo  by  Harris  &  Ewing 
"ON   YOTTR    MARK!"     AWAITING    THE    SIGNAL    RELEASING    CROP    REPORTS 

Reporters    waiting    to    ruih    to    telephones 


facturers  and  dealers  ;  and  periodical 
collections,  at  intervals  averaging 
less  than  one  month,  of  statistics 
relating  to  cotton  and  cottonseed. 

Special  inquiries  are  occasionally 
devolved  upon  the  bureau  by  Con- 
gress, by  the  President  or  by  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce. 


by  which  the  final  process  of  me- 
chanical tabulation  is  performed. 
Punched  cards  are  automatically  fed 
into  this  machine  at  the  rate  of  400 
or  more  per  minute,  and  the  statis- 
tical facts  indicated  on  them  by  the 
positions  of  the  holes  are  electrically 
recorded  with  unerring  accuracy. 


BUREAU    OF    STANDARDS 


The  functions  of  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  are  as  follows:  The  cus- 
tody of  the  standards;  the  compari- 
son of  the  standards  used  in  scien- 
tific investigations,  engineering,  man- 
ufacturing, commerce,  and  educa- 


tional institutions  with  the  stand- 
ards adopted  or  recognized  by  the 
Government ;  the  construction,  when 
necessary,  of  standards,  their  mul- 
tiples and  subdivisions;  the  testing 
and  calibration  of  standard  measur- 


566 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


ing  apparatus ;  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems which  arise  in  connection  with 
standards;  the  determination  of 
physical  constants  and  properties  of 
materials,  when  such  data  -are  of 
great  importance  to  scientific  or 
manufacturing  interests  and  are  not 


cipal  government  within  the  United 
States,  or  for  any  scientific  society, 
educational  institution,  firm,  corpor- 
ation, or  individual  within  the  Unit- 
ed States  engaged  in  manufacturing 
or  other  pursuits  requiring  the  use 
of  standards  or  standard  measuring 


TEST   SET   OF   WEIGHTS   AND   MEASURES   RECOMMENDED   BY   THE   U.    S.    BUREAU 

OF    STANDARDS 


to  be  obtained  of  sufficient  accuracy 
elsewhere;  and  other  investigations 
as  authorized  by  Congress.  The  bu- 
reau is  authorized  to  exercise  its 
functions  for  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  for  any  State  or  muni- 


instruments.  For  all  comparisons, 
calibration  tests,  or  investigations, 
except  those  performed  for  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  or 
State  governments,  a  reasonable  fee 
will  be  charged. 


BUREAU    OF    LIGHTHOUSES 

The     work     of     the     Bureau     of      on   the    "Government   Protection   of 
Lighthouses  is  given  in  the  chapter      Life  and  Property  at  Sea,"  page  135. 


BUREAU    OF    FISHERIES 


The  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Fish- 
eries is  given  in  the  special  chap- 


ter  on    "The   Fish   We   Eat." 
page  67. 


See 


UNITED    STATES    COAST   AND    GEODETIC    SURVEY 

The   work    of   the   United    States      in  the  chapter  on  "The  Three  Great 
Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  is  given      Government  Surveys,"  page  127. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 


BUREAU   OF  NAVIGATION 

By  HON.  EUGENE  TYLER  CHAMBERLAIN 
Commissioner  of  Navigation 


THE  Federal  Government  exer- 
cises   general    superintendence 
over  merchant  shipping  through 
the    Bureau    of   Navigation    of   the 
Department  of  Commerce.     To  en- 
gage  in   trade   or   in   the   fisheries, 
vessels   in  the  United   States  must 
first  secure  a  permit  from  the  Gov- 
ernment; that  is  to  say,  vessels  of 
which  the  contents   are  500  cubic 


also  decides  all  questions  about 
measuring  the  cubical  contents  of 
the  vessel,  a  somewhat  intricate  task 
performed  by  custom  house  officers. 
As  various  charges,  Federal,  local 
and  private,  are  based  on  the  size 
of  vessels,  the  Federal  Government 
through  the  Bureau  of  Navigation 
endeavors  to  see  that  the  rules  of 
measurement  are  enforced  uniform- 


"Dixle"  "Tarragon" 

BUREAU  OF  NAVIGATION  FLEET 


feet  or  more.  Smaller  boats  are  not 
required  to  get  this  permit,  nor  are 
barges,  lighters  and  similar  craft 
employed  only  in  harbors  or  on 
canals  and  waters  not  subject  to 
Federal  jurisdiction.  The  issue  of 
these  permits  is  based  on  the  clause 
of  the  Constitution  which  gives  the 
Federal  Government  the  power  to 
regulate  commerce  with  foreign  na- 
tions and  between  the  States.  These 
permits  are  called  registers  if  the 
vessel  is  to  engage  in  foreign  trade, 
and  enrollments  or  licenses  if  the 
vessel  is  to  engage  solely  in  trade 
between  American  ports.  Collectors 
of  Customs  issue  annually  these 
papers,  of  which  there  are  over  26,- 
000,  but  the  Bureau  of  Navigation 
superintends  the  work  and  decides 
all  doubtful  questions.  The  Bureau 


ly.  Foreign  nations  follow  the  same 
general  method  of  issuing  documents 
to  their  ships  and  measuring  their 
size  as  does  the  United  States — in- 
deed, the  laws  of  the  United  States 
on  ships'  registers  date  back  to  the 
time  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  first 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who 
adopted  the  British  system. 

The  only  important  tax  imposed 
by  the  Federal  Government  on  ships 
in  foreign  trade  is  a  duty  on  their 
tonnage  or  cubical  contents,  which 
may  not  exceed  annually  30  cents 
a  ton,  or  100  cubic  feet,  on  ships  in 
trade  with  the  more  remote  conti- 
nents, or  10  cents  annually  on  ships 
in  trade  with  the  nearby  foreign 
ports  of  North  America  and  adja- 
cent islands.  This  Federal  tax  law 
is  also  enforced  by  Collectors  of 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Customs  under  direction  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Navigation.  The  tax  is  im- 
posed uniformly  on  American  and 
foreign  ships. 

Every  maritime  nation  supervises 
the  labor  contracts  entered  into  by 
the  seamen  on  its  merchant  vessels 
engaging  in  foreign  trade.  This  su- 
pervision is  to  prevent  frauds  upon 
seamen,  to  prevent  their  being  left 
stranded  in  foreign  ports  and  to 
enable  the  seaman  to  know  in  ad- 
vance just  what  work  he  has  agreed 
to  perform,  the  course  and  duration 
of  the  voyage,  the  fare  he  is  to  re- 
ceive on  board  and  the  pay  he  is  to 
get.  These  contracts  are  made  in 
writing  on  printed  Government 
forms  and  are  signed  by  a  shipping 
commissioner  or  collector  of  cus- 
toms as  a  representative  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. When  the  contract  has 
been  performed  and  the  voyage  end- 
ed, the  seamen  are  paid  off  and 
discharged  before  the  shipping  com- 
missioner. Governments  are  spe- 
cially interested  in  the  whereabouts 
and  welfare  of  their  merchant  sea- 
men, as  in  many  countries  they  are 
reckoned  an  asset  in  national  de- 
fense. During  the  past  fiscal  year 
487,524  officers  and  men  signed  such 
agreements  and  were  later  paid  off 
and  discharged  by  the  commission- 
ers, some  men  appearing  in  the  total 
as  often  as  the  number  of  voyages 
they  made.  It  requires  60,000  offi- 
cers and  men  to  man  the  ocean- 
going merchant  ships  and  yachts 
under  the  American  flag,  and  the 
Bureau  of  Navigation  of  the  Com- 
merce Department  has  general  su- 
pervision over  the  shipping  and  dis- 
charge of  crews  under  the  method 
outlined.  The  American  Navy  now 
has  about  55,000  enlisted  men,  and 
officers  and  the  Marine  Corps  bring 
the  total  beyond  the  number  in  the 
merchant  service.  When  the  war- 
ships recently  ordered  are  in  com- 
mission four  or  five  years  hence  the 
Navy  will  require  77,000  enlisted 
men. 

The  Bureau  of  Navigation  also 
supervises  the  laws  requiring  wire- 
less apparatus  and  operators  on 


ships  and  requiring  wireless  appara- 
tus and  operators  on  sea  or  land  to 
be  licensed  and  to  conform  to  re- 
quirements of  the  international 
treaty  and  American  law  designed 
to  prevent  the  interference  of  wire- 
less stations  with  one  another.  To 
carry  out  these  laws  and  the  treaty 
the  Bureau  has  radio  inspectors  at 
the  principal  seaports  and  Great 
Lake  ports  to  inspect  wireless  appa- 
ratus on  ships  before  their  departure 
and  make  sure  that  the  main  appa- 
ratus is  efficient  and  that  the  aux- 
iliary apparatus,  employed  if  the 
main  apparatus  is  put  out  of  opera- 
tion by  accident  at  sea,  is  ready  for 
use.  In  the  last  fiscal  year  these 
officers  made  7,236  inspections  of 
ships  before  leaving  port. 

The  laws  of  the  United  States 
regulating  American  merchant  ships 
and  foreign  merchant  ships  in  Amer- 
ican ports  fill  a  volume  of  consider- 
able size,  popularly  termed  the  Navi- 
gation Laws.  These  laws  are  de* 
signed  partly  to  insure  the  safety 
of  passengers  and  crews,  partly  to 
prevent  the  misuse  of  the  American 
flag,  to  secure  revenue  and  to  pre- 
vent frauds  on  the  revenue,  to  pro- 
mote American  shipbuilding,  to  se- 
cure comfortable  quarters  for 
steerage  passengers,  to  prevent  col- 
lisions, fire  and  other  casualties,  to 
secure  efficient  officers  and  sufficient 
crews,  to  furnish  complete  statistical 
records  within  limits,  to  regulate 
trade  with  foreign  ports  and  be- 
tween American  ports,  including 
those  in  Alaska,  Hawaii  and  Porto 
Rico,  and  for  many  other  purposes. 
Violations  of  these  laws  involve  pen- 
alties of  greater  or  less  severity  and 
from  the  beginning  of  Government 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  lodge 
somewhere  discretionary  power  to 
mitigate  or  remit  such  penalties 
when  circumstances  warranted  that 
action,  the  full  statutory  penalties 
being  imposed  in  flagrant  and  willful 
cases.  This  discretionary  power  is 
lodged  in  the  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce, and  the  preliminary  investi- 
gation of  such  matters  is  made  for 
him  by  the  Bureau  of  Navigation, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 


569 


which  ascertains  all  the  facts  and 
recommends  a  course  of  action  to 
the  Secretary.  Last  year  7,895  such 
cases  were  examined  by  the  Bureau 
of  Navigation.  At  seaports  viola- 
tions of  law  are  reported  by  col- 
lectors of  customs,  radio  inspectors, 
Coast  Guard  officers,  inspectors  spe- 
cially designated  to  see  to  it  that 
steamers,  especially  excursion  steam- 
ers, do  not  leave  port  with  more 
passengers  than  can  be  safely  car- 
ried, and  by  steamboat-inspection 
officers.  Each  owner,  master,  officer 
or  man  charged  with  violation  of 
law  has  an  opportunity  to  offer  his 
defense  or  excuse  in  writing,  and  the 
evidence  is  then  weighed  by  the 
Bureau  of  Navigation  and  a  recom- 
mendation made  to  the  head  of  the 
department. 

Since  motor  boats  began   to  fur- 
nish the  means  of  water  transporta- 


tion for  many  parts  of  the  country 
and  motor  boating  became  a  national 
sport  the  navigation  laws  have  come 
close  to  thousands  of  Americans  who 
before  were  only  remotely  aware  of 
their  existence.  There  are  about 
250,000  motor  boats  on  the  waters 
of  the  United  States.  The  Bureau 
of  Navigation  has  two  motor  boats 
of  its  own  ("Dixie"  and  "Tarra- 
gon") which  are  almost  constantly 
engaged  in  securing  compliance  with 
the  laws  among  vessels  generally, 
but  especially  among  motor  boats. 
They  cover  the  Atlantic  coast  from 
Eastport,  Me.,  to  Key  West,  Fla., 
visiting  the  intervening  bays,  har- 
bors, sounds  and  rivers  during  the 
seasons  of  greatest  local  activity, 
and  have  proved  to  be  an  efficient 
and  economical  means  of  securing 
strict  compliance  with  the  naviga- 
tion laws. 


THE    STEAMBOAT    INSPECTION    SERVICE 

By   D.   N.   HOOVER,   Jr. 
Acting  Supervising  Inspector  General 

ORGANIZATION 


THE  head  of  the  Steamboat  In- 
spection Service  is  the  Super- 
vising Inspector  General,  who 
is  stationed  at  Washington,  and  un- 
der the  Supervising  Inspector  Gen- 
eral is  the  Deputy  Inspector  General. 
In  addition  to  the  clerical  force  at 
Washington  there  work  directly  un- 
der '  the  supervision  of  the  central 
office,  two  traveling  inspectors,  one 
located  at  New  York,  N.  Y.,  and  the 
other  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  whose 
business  it  is  to  re-examine  vessels 
with  a  view  to  ascertaining  whether 
the  local  inspectors  have  properly 
inspected  the  same,  and  also  to  fol- 
low up  complaints  that  may  be  re- 
ferred to  them  by  the  central  office. 
A  corps  of  assistant  inspectors, 
detailed  for  duty  at  the  steel 
mills  for  the  purpose  of  testing  plate 
to  be  used  in  construction  of  marine 
boilers,  also  works  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  central  office. 


The  United  States,  including  Ha- 
waii, Alaska  and  Porto  Rico,  is 
divided  into  ten  supervising  inspec- 
tion districts,  over  each  of  which 
districts  presides  a  supervising  in- 
spector. 

The  Supervising  Inspector  Gener- 
al and  the  ten  supervising  inspectors 
above  referred  to  constitute  the 
Board  of  Supervising  Inspectors, 
which  meets  in  annual  session  the 
third  Wednesday  of  January  each 
year  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
all  necessary  regulations  required  to 
carry  out  in  the  most  effective  man- 
ner the  laws  that  relate  to  the  Steam- 
boat Inspection  Service. 

Each  Supervising  inspection  dis- 
trict is  divided  into  local  inspection 
districts.  Over  each  local  inspection 
district  a  board  of  local  inspectors, 
consisting  of  an  inspector  of  hulls 
and  an  inspector  of  boilers,  presides. 
In  those  districts  where  the  pressure 


570 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


of  work  requires  it,  there  are  also 
stationed  assistant  inspectors,  who 
work  under  the  supervision  of  the 
board  of  local  inspectors  of  the 
district. 

ACTIVITIES     OF    THE     SERVICE 

The  Service  exists  for  the  purpose 
of  inspecting  vessels,  licensing  offi- 
cers and  conducting  investigations  of 
disasters  and  violations  of  law. 

Once  each  year,  steamers  subject 
to  inspection  are  required  to  have 
the  hulls  of  the  same  thoroughly  ex- 
amined, and  the  inspectors  must  sat- 
isfy themselves  that  such  vessels  are 
of  a  structure  suitable  for  the  ser- 
vice in  which  they  are  to  be  em- 
ployed, have  suitable  accommoda- 
tions for  passengers  and  crew,  and 
are  in  a  condition  to  warrant  the 
belief  that  they  may  be  used  in  navi- 
gation as  steamers  with  safety  to 
life,  and  the  inspectors  have  to  sat- 
isfy themselves  that  all  the  require- 
ments of  law  in  regard  to  fires, 
boats,  pumps,  hose,  life  preservers, 
floats,  anchors,  cables,  and  other 
things  are  faithfully  complied  with. 
Furthermore,  all  excursion  and  fer- 
ry steamers  are  required  to  be  re- 
inspected  three  times  during  the  year 
for  which  certified  or  during  the 
period  of  navigation.  Local  inspec- 
tors are  also  required  to  inspect  the 
boilers  and  their  appurtenances  in 
all  steam  vessels  before  the  same 
shall  be  used,  and  once  at  least  in 
every  year  thereafter,  are  required 
to  subject  all  boilers  to  hydrostatic 
pressure.  They  must  assure  them- 
selves that  the  boilers  are  well  made, 
of  good  and  suitable  material;  that 
the  openings  for  the  passage  of  wa- 


ter and  steam,  respectively,  and  all 
pipes  and  tubes  exposed  to  heat,  are 
of  proper  dimensions  and  free  from 
obstructions;  that  the  spaces  be- 
tween and  around  the  flues  are  suf- 
ficient; that  flues,  boilers,  furnaces, 
safety  valves,  fusible  plugs,  low- 
water  indicators,  feed-water  appa- 
ratus, gauge  cocks,  steam  gauges, 
water  and  steam  pipes  connecting 
boilers,  means  of  prevention  of 
sjparks  and  flames  from  fire  doors, 
low-water  gauges,  means  of  remov- 
ing mud  and  sediment  from  boilers, 
and  all  other  such  machinery  and 
appurtenances  thereof,  are  of  such 
construction,  shape,  condition,  ar- 
rangement, and  material  that  they 
may  be  safely  employed  in  the  serv- 
ice proposed  without  peril  to  life. 

Applicants  for  licenses  from  the 
Service  obtain  the  same  in  all  in- 
stances, except  in  the  case  of  oper- 
ators for  motor  boats,  after  due  writ- 
ten examination  before  the  local  in- 
spectors having  jurisdiction,  and  in 
the  case  of  deck  officers,  in  addition 
to  the  written  examination,  they  are 
examined  as  to  color-sense  and 
visual  acuity.  As  a  result  of  the 
Seamen's  Act,  the  Service  also  cer- 
tificates able  seamen  and  lifeboat 
men. 

The  boards  of  local  inspectors 
have  authority  by  statute  to  investi- 
gate disasters  and  violations  of  law, 
and  when  they  are  conducting  such 
investigations  they  are  proceeding  in 
a  quasi  judicial  manner,  and  by 
statute  certain  appeals  are  provided 
from  the  local  inspectors  to  the 
supervising  inspectors,  and  in  cer- 
tain instances,  to  the  Supervising 
Inspector  General. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 


THE    SECRETARY    OF    LABOR 


THE  Secretary  of  Labor  is 
charged  with  the  duty  of 
fostering,  promoting,  and  de- 
veloping the  welfare  of  the  wage 
earners  of  the  United  States,  im- 
proving their  working  conditions, 
and  advancing  their  opportunities 
for  profitable  employment.  He  has 
power  under  the  law  to  act  as 
mediator  and  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners of  conciliation  in  labor  dis- 
putes whenever  in  his  judgment  the 
interests  of  industrial  peace  may  re- 
quire it  to  be  done.  He  has  authori- 
ty to  direct  the  collecting  and  col- 
lating of  full  and  complete  statistics 
of  the  conditions  of  labor  and  the 
products  and  distribution  of  the 
products  of  the  same  and  to  call 
upon  other  departments  of  the  Gov- 
ernment for  statistical  data  and  re- 
sults obtained  by  them  and  to  col- 
late, arrange,  and  publish  such  sta- 
tistical information  so  obtained  in 
such  manner  as  to  him  may  seem 
wise.  His  duties  also  comprise  the 
gathering  and  publication  of  in- 
formation regarding  labor  interests 
and  labor  controversies  in  this  and 
other  countries;  the  supervision  of 
the  immigration  of  aliens,  and  the 
enforcement  of  the  laws  relating 
thereto,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  Chi- 
nese; the  direction  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  naturalization  laws; 
the  direction  of  the  work  of  investi- 
gating all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  children  and  child  life 
and  to  cause  to  be  published  such 
results  of  these  investigations  as  he 
may  deem  wise  and  appropriate. 


The  law  creating  the  Department 
of  Labor  provides  that  all  duties 
performed  and  all  power  and  au- 
thority possessed  or  exercised  by  the 
head  of  any  executive  department  at 
the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  said 
law,  in  and  over  any  bureau,  office, 
officer,  board,  branch,  or  division  of 
the  public  service  by  said  act  trans- 
ferred to  the  Department  of  Labor, 
or  any  business  arising  therefrom  or 
pertaining  thereto,  or  in  relation  to 
the  duties  performed  by  and  au- 
thority conferred  by  law  upon  sucli 
bureau,  officer,  office,  board,  branch, 
or  division  of  the  public  service, 
whether  of  an  appellate  or  advisory 
character  or  otherwise,  are  vested  in 
and  exercised  by  the  head  of  the 
said  Department  of  Labor.  The 
Secretary  of  Labor  is  also  given  au- 
thority and  directed  to  investigate 
and  report  to  Congress  a  plan  of 
co-ordination  of  the  activities,  duties, 
and  powers  of  the  office  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  Labor  with  the  activities, 
duties,  and  powers  of  the  present 
bureaus,  commissions,  and  depart- 
ments, so  far  as  they  relate  to  labor 
and  its  conditions,  in  order  to  har- 
monize and  unify  such  activities, 
duties,  and  powers,  with  a  view  to 
additional  legislation  to  further  de- 
fine the  duties  and  powers  of  the 
Department  of  Labor,  and  to  make 
such  special  investigations  and  re- 
ports to  the  President  or  Congress 
as  may  be  required  by  them  or  which 
he  may  deem  necessary,  and  to  re- 
port annually  to  Congress  upon  the 
work  of  the  Department  of  Labor. 


Copyright   by  Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 


573 


ASSISTANT    SECRETARY    OF   LABOR 


The  Assistant  Secretary  performs 
such  duties  as  shall  be  prescribed 
by  the  Secretary  or  may  be  required 


by  law.  He  becomes  the  Acting 
Secretary  of  Labor  in  the  absence 
of  the  Secretary. 


CHIEF    CLERK 


The  chief  clerk  is  charged  with  the 
general  supervision  of  the  clerks  and  em- 
ployees of  the  department ;  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  general  regulations  of  the 
department ;  the  superintendency  of  all 
buildings  occupied  by  the  department  in 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  the  general 


supervision  of  all  expenditures  from 
the  appropriations  for  contingent  ex- 
penses and  rents ;  the  receipt,  distribu- 
tion, and  transmission  of  the  mail,  and 
the  discharge  of  all  business  of  the 
Secretary's  office  not  otherwise  as- 
signed. 


DISBURSING   CLERK 


The  disbursing  clerk  is  charged  by  the 
Secretary  of  Labor  with  the  duty  of 
preparing  all  requisitions  for  the  advance 
of  public  funds  from  appropriations  for 
the  Department  of  Labor  to  disbursing 
clerks  and  special  disbursing  agents 
charged  with  the  disbursement  of  public 
funds ;  the  keeping  of  appropriation 
ledgers  relating  to  the  advance  and  ex- 
penditure of  all  items  of  appropriations. 
He  has  charge  of  the  issuing,  recording, 


and  accounting  for  Government  requests 
for  transportation  issued  to  officers  of 
the  department  for  official  travel ;  the 
audit  and  payment  of  all  vouchers  and 
accounts  submitted  from  the  various 
offices,  bureaus,  and  services  of  the  de- 
partment ;  the  general  accounting  of 
the  department ;  and  the  accounting  for 
all  naturalization  receipts  received  under 
the  provisions  of  the  act  of  June  29, 
1906. 


APPOINTMENT    CLERK 


The  appointment  clerk  has  charge  of 
all  clerical  work  incident  to  appoint- 
ments which  are  made  under  the  juris- 


diction of  the  department.  He  is  custo- 
dian of  oaths  of  office,  bonds  of  officers, 
personnel  files,  and  efficiency  reports. 


DIVISION   OF    PUBLICATIONS    AND    SUPPLIES 


The  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Publica- 
tions and  Supplies  is  charged  by  the 
Secretary  of  Lr.bor  with  the  conduct  of 
all  business  the  department  transacts 
with  the  Government  Printing  Office ; 
the  general  supervision  of  printing,  in- 
cluding the  editing  and  preparation  of 
copy,  illustrating  and  binding,  the  dis- 
tribution of  publications,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  mailing  lists.  All  blank 
books  and  blank  forms  and  the  printed 
stationery  of  all  kinds  used  by  the  bu- 
reaus and  offices  of  the  department  in 
Washington  and  the  various  outside  ser- 
vices of  the  department  are  in  his  cus- 
tody and  are  supplied  by  him.  The  ad- 
vertising done  by  the  department  is  in 
his  charge.  He  also  keeps  a  record  of 
all  expenditures  for  the  publishing  work 


of  the  department  and  conducts  the  cor- 
respondence it  entails.  Under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  chief  clerk  he  has  personal 
supervision  of  all  the  work  incident 
to  the  purchase  and  distribution  of 
supplies  for  the  department  proper  and 
for  the  services  of  the  department  out- 
side of  Washington  and  of  the  keeping 
of  detailed  accounts  of  all  expenditures 
from  the  appropriation  for  contingent 
expenses  of  the  department.  He  re- 
ceives, verifies,  and  preserves  the  semi- 
annual returns  of  property  from  the 
offices  and  bureaus  of  the  department 
which  are  supplied  from  the  contingent 
appropriation,  and  examines  and  reports 
on  the  semi-annual  property  returns  of 
all  other  bureaus  and  services  of  the 
department. 


BUREAU   OF   IMMIGRATION 


The  Bureau  of  Immigration  is  charged 
with  the  administration  of  the  laws  re- 
lating to  immigration  and  of  the  Chinese- 
exclusion  laws.  It  supervises  all  ex- 
penditures under  the  appropriation  for 
"Expenses  of  regulating  immigration." 


It  causes  alleged  violations  "of  fhe^mml- 
gration,  Chinese-exclusion,  and  alien  con- 
tract-labor laws  to  be  investigated,  and 
when  prosecution  is  deemed  advisable 
submits  evidence  for  that  purpose  to  the 
proper  United  States  district  attorney. 


674 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


DIVISION   OP   INFORMATION 


The  division  of  Information,  under  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration,  gathers  from  all 
available  sources  information  concerning 
the  resources,  products,  and  physical 
characteristics  of  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories. This  information  is  made  avail- 
able to  admitted  aliens  and  others  seek- 
ing homes  or  places  of  settlement. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of 


Labor,  the  division  also  acts  as  a  division 
for  the  distribution  and  employment  of 
labor,  and  is  the  central  office  of  the 
eighteen  distribution  zones  covering  the 
entire  United  States.  In  this  phase  of 
its  activities  it  co-operates  with  the 
Post  Office  Department,  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  and  the  •  Department  of 
the  Interior. 


BUREAU   OF    NATURALIZATION 


The  act  approved  March  4,  1913,  cre- 
ating the  Department  of  Labor,  provided 
a  Bureau  of  Naturalization,  and  that  the 
Commissioner  of  Naturalization,  or,  in 
his  absence,  the  Deputy  Commissioner 
of  Naturalization,  shall  be  the  adminis- 
trative officer  in  charge  of  the  Bureau  of 
Naturalization  and  of  the  administration 
of  the  naturalization  laws  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  the  Secretary  of 
Labor.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  act 
of  June  29,  1906,  naturalization  juris- 
diction was  conferred  upon  approximate- 
ly 3,500  United  States  and  State  courts. 
The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Naturaliza- 
tion are  to  supervise  the  work  of  these 


courts  in  naturalization  matters,  to  con- 
duct all  correspondence  relating  to  natur- 
alization, and,  through  its  field  officers 
located  in  various  cities  of  the  United 
States,  to  investigate  the  qualifications 
of  the  candidates  for  citizenship  and 
represent  the  Government  at  the  hear- 
ings of  petitions  for  naturalization.  In 
the  archives  of  the  bureau  are  filed 
duplicates  of  all  certificates  of  naturali- 
zation granted  since  September  26,  1906, 
as  well  as  the  preliminary  papers  of  all 
candidates  for  citizenship  filed  since  that 
date,  averaging  an  annual  receipt  of  ap- 
proximately 450,000  naturalization  pa- 
pers. 


BUREAU    OF   LABOR    STATISTICS 


The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  is 
charged  with  the  duty  of  acquiring  and 
diffusing  among  the  people  of  the  United 
States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  labor  in  the  most  gen- 
eral and  comprehensive  sense  of  that 
word,  and  especially  upon  its  relations 
to  capital,  the  hours  of  labor,  the  earn- 
ings of  laboring  men  and  women,  and 
the  means  of  promoting  their  material, 
social,  intellectual,  and  moral  prosperity. 

It  is  especially  charged  to  investigate 
the  causes  of  and  facts  relating  to  con- 
troversies and  disputes  between  employ- 
ers and  employees  as  they  may  occur, 
and  which  may  happen  to  interfere  with 
the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  several 
States. 

It  is  also  authorized,  by  act  of  March 
2,  1895,  to  publish  a  bulletin  on  the 
condition  of  labor  in  this  and  other 
countries,  condensations  of  State  and 
foreign  labor  reports,  facts  as  to  condi- 
tions of  employment,  and  such  other 
facts  as  may  be  deemed  of  value  to  the 


industrial  interests  of  the  United  States. 
This  bulletin  is  issued  in  a  number  of 
series,  each  dealing  with  a  single  sub- 
ject or  closely  related  group  of  subjects, 
and  the  bulletin  is  published  at  irregu- 
lar intervals  as  matter  becomes  avail- 
able for  publication. 

By  the  act  to  provide  a  government 
for  the  Territory  of  Hawaii,  as  amended, 
it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  bureau  to 
collect  and  present  in  quinquennial  re- 
ports statistical  details  relating  to  all 
departments  of  labor  in  the  Territory 
of  Hawaii,  especially  those  statistics 
which  relate  to  the  commercial,  industri- 
al, social,  educational  and  sanitary  con- 
dition of  the  laboring  classes. 

The  administration  of  the  act  of  May 
30,  1908,  granting  to  certain  employees 
of  the  United  States  the  right  to  receive 
from  it  compensation  for  injuries  sus- 
tained in  the  course  of  their  employ- 
ment, is  vested  in  the  bureau  by  the  act 
of  March  4,  1913,  creating  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor. 


CHILDREN'S  BUREAU 


The  act  establishing  the  bureau  pro- 
vides that  it  shall  investigate  and  report 
upon  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  wel- 
fare of  children  and  child  life  among 
all  classes  of  our  people,  and  shall  es- 
pecially investigate  the  questions  of  in- 
fant mortality,  the  birth  rate,  orphanage, 
juvenile  courts,  desertion,  dangerous  oc- 


cupations, accidents  and  diseases  of 
children,  employment,  and  legislation  af- 
fecting children  in  the  several  States  and 
Territories.  The  bureau  is  also  empow- 
ered to  publish  the  results  of  these  in- 
vestigations in  such  manner  and  to  such 
extent  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  Labor. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION 

THE    SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION,    AT    WASHINGTON,    FOE    THE    INCREASE    AND 
DIFFUSION   OF   KNOWLEDGE   AMONG   MEN 

From  Official  Sources 


THE     Smithsonian     Institution 
was  created  by  act  of  Congress 
in  1846,  under  the  terms  of  the 
will  of  James  Smithson,  an  English- 
man, who,  in  1826,  bequeathed  his 
fortune    to    the    United    States    of 
America   to  found,   at   Washington, 
under  the  name  of  the  "Smithsonian 
Institution,"    an    establishment    for 


the  "increase  and  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge among  men."  From  the  in- 
come of  the  fund  a  building,  known 
as  the  Smithsonian  building,  was 
erected  on  land  given  by  the  United 
States.  The  Institution  is  legally 
an  establishment  having  as  its  mem- 
bers the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  Vice-President,  the  Chief 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION,  WASHINGTON,  D.  0. 


Copyright  by  Munn  &  Co.,   Inc. 


576 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Justice  and  the  President's  Cabinet. 
It  is  governed  by  a  Board  of  Regents 
consisting  of  the  Vice-President,  the 
Chief  Justice,  three  members  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  three  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  six  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  appointed  by  joint  resolution 
of  Congress.  It  is  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  the  secretary  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  who  is 
the  executive  officer  and  the  director 
of  all  of  the  Institution's  activi- 
ties. 

For  the  increase  of  knowledge  the 
Institution  aids  investigators  by 
making  grants  for  research  and  ex- 
ploration, supplying  books,  appara- 
tus, laboratory  accommodations,  etc. 
It  occasionally  provides  for  lectures, 
which  are  published.  It  has  initiated 
numerous  scientific  projects  of  na- 
tional importance,  some  of  which 
have  resulted  in  the  creation  of  in- 
dependent Government  bureaus.  It 
advises  the  Government  in  many 
matters  of  scientific  character,  espe- 
cially in  those  that  have  an  interna- 
tional aspect 


For  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  the 
Institution  issues  three  regular 
series  of  publications:  Annual  Re- 
ports, Smithsonian  Contributions  to 
Knowledge  and  the  Smithsonian  Mis- 
cellaneous Collections.  All  these 
publications  are  distributed  gratui- 
tously to  important  libraries 
throughout  the  world. 

The  Institution,  in  co-operation 
with  the  Library  of  Congress,  main- 
tains a  scientific  library  which  num- 
bers 260,000  volumes,  consisting 
mainly  of  the  transactions  of  learned 
societies  and  scientific  periodicals. 

The  parent  institution  has  the  ad- 
ministrative charge  of  several 
branches  which  grew  out  of  its  early 
activities  and  which  are  supported 
by  Congressional  appropriations. 
These  are  the  National  Museum,  in- 
cluding the  National  Gallery  of  Art ; 
the  International  Exchange  Serv- 
ice; the  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology ;  the  National  Zoological 
Park ;  the  Astrophysical  Observa- 
tory, and  the  Regional  Bureau  for 
the  International  Catalogue  of  Sci- 
entific Literature. 


NATURAL    HISTORY    BUILDING,    U.    S.     NATIONAL    MUSEUM 

THE   UNITED    STATES   NATIONAL   MUSEUM 


Established  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress of  1846  founding  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  and  under  its 
direction,  the  United  States  Na- 
tional Museum  is  the  designated 
depository  for  the  national  col- 


lections in  art  and  natural  his- 
tory, being  also  charged  with 
their  classified  arrangement  and 
their  use  in  advancing  knowledge 
and  promoting  education.  Starting 
with  accommodations  in  the  Smith- 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION 


577 


sonian  building,  which  it  still 
largely  occupies,  two  extensive 
structures  have  since  been  erected 
especially  for  its  purposes,  one  com- 
pleted in  1881,  the  other  in  1911. 
Located  on  the  Mall,  between  Ninth 
and  Twelfth  Streets,  these  three 
buildings  furnish  the  museum  with 
about  650,000  square  feet  or  nearly 
15  acres  of  floor  space,  somewhat 
more  than  half  of  which  is  devoted 
to  the  public  exhibitions. 


and  storage  quarters  and  an  audi- 
torium. 

The  natural  history  collections,  in- 
cluding, besides  zoology  and  botany, 
geology,  paleontology,  ethnology, 
archeology  and  physical  anthro- 
pology, represent  the  greatest  and 
most  important  growth  of  the 
museum.  The  first  notable  acquisi- 
tion consisted  of  the  rich  and  varied 
results  of  the  cruise  of  the  U.  S. 
Exploring  Expedition  in  the  South 


HALL  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY,   OLDER  BUILDING,  TT.  S.  NATIONAL  MTISETTM 


The  latest  building,  four  stories 
high,  of  white  granite,  with  a  main 
frontage  of  561  feet  and  a  depth 
of  364^  feet,  and  costing  $3,500,000, 
is  architecturally  one  of  the  most 
prominent  among  the  Government 
edifices  in  Washington.  Specifically 
designed  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  natural  history,  and  with  its  two 
main  floors  and  part  of  another  com- 
posed of  large  exhibition  halls,  it 
also  contains  exceptionally  exten- 
sive and  well-appointed  laboratories 


Seas  and  other  waters  during  the 
four  years  from  1838  to  1842.  Then, 
for  a  long  period,  the  bulk  of  the 
accessions  came  from  numerous  spe- 
cial explorations,  principally  by  the 
Government,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent in  other  near  and  far  regions ; 
and  these  were  followed  by  the  regu- 
larly organized  Government  surveys 
and  investigations,  still  in  progress. 
Through  thousands  of  other  sources 
material  from  every  quarter  of  the 


578 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


globe  has  also  been  acquired,  and 
this  constant  flow  of  specimens  has 
advanced  the  National  Museum  in 
its  natural  history  departments  to 
the  highest  rank  among  the  museums 
of  the  world.  Its  collections  are, 
naturally,  most  complete  for  North 
America,  and,  besides  having  served 
as  the  basis  for  extended  and  im- 
portant researches  for  over  two 
thirds  of  a  century,  they  have  been 
liberally  utilized  in  the  interest  of 
general  education,  with  methods  of 
public  installation  developed  to  a 
remarkable  stage  of  perfection. 


of  periods,  the  most  conspicuous  fea- 
ture being  a  large  and  varied  series 
of  Washington  relics.  One  hall  is 
devoted  to  costumes  and  another  to 
coins,  medals  and  postal  tokens.  The 
industrial  art  collections  are  of 
great  importance  both  historically 
and  suggestively,  and  while  inade- 
quate facilities  have  somewhat  re- 
tarded their  development,  they  al- 
ready form  the  basis  of  a  uepart- 
ment  of  the  utmost  practical  signifi- 
cance. Among  the  subjects  even 
now  widely  represented  are  the 
graphic  arts  and  ceramics ;  textiles, 


"JOHN   BULL"   ENGINE,    AND   HALL    OF   MECHANICAL    TECHNOLOGY,    OLDER 
BUILDING,    U.    S.    NATIONAL    MUSEUM 


The  older  museum  and  Smith- 
sonian buildings  are  assigned  to 
American  history  and  the  industrial 
arts,  except  that  the  upper  main 
story  of  the  latter  structure  is  oc- 
cupied by  the  division  of  plants,  or 
National  Herbarium.  The  exhibi- 
tion collections  of  history,  which  fill 
four  halls,  are  especially  rich  in 
mementoes  of  prominent  persons  and 


laces,  embroideries,  woods,  medi- 
cines, foods  and  the  various  miscel- 
laneous uses  to  which  animal  and 
vegetable  products  are  put ;  the  pro- 
cesses of  mining  and  of  dealing  with 
mineral  products ;  land,  water  and 
air  transportation;  fire  arms  and 
other  weapons,  weights  and  meas- 
ures ;  electrical  and  other  inven- 
tions, including  the  telegraph,  tele- 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION 


579 


phone  and  phonograph;  and  all 
classes  of  machinery  and  of  physical 
apparatus. 

The  National  Gallery  of  Art  or 
department  of  the  fine  arts  acquired 
in  1849  a  notable  series  of  engrav- 
ings of  the  old  masters  and  many 
works  on  art  which  had  been  assem- 
bled by  George  P.  Marsh.  Occa- 
sional additions  were  received  in 
subsequent  years,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  bequest  of  Harriet  Lane 
Johnston  in  1906  that  the  gallery 
took  form.  This  collection  of  seven- 
teen paintings,  besides  other  objects, 
includes  a  Luini  and  several  excel- 
lent English  and  Dutch  portraits. 
In  the  same  year  Mr.  Charles  L. 
Freer,  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  presented 
his  notable  collection  of  American 
and  Oriental  art,  to  which  he  has 
constantly  added  until  its  size  has 
been  more  than  doubled.  It  now 
consists  of  some  5,346  articles,  of 
which  over  1,000  are  paintings, 
pastels,  drawings,  engravings,  litho- 
graphs, etc.,  by  nine  American  art- 
ists, headed  by  Whistler;  while  the 


Oriental  objects,  exceeding  4,300  in 
number,  some  of  which  date  back 
several  centuries  B.  C.,  include  paint- 
ings, pottery,  bronzes,  sculptures, 
jades,  glass,  etc.,  mainly  from  China, 
Japan,  Corea,  Persia,  India,  Meso- 
potamia and  Egypt,  constituting  a 
collection  of  exceptional  value,  un- 
rivaled in  ihe  importance  of  the 
material  it  furnishes  for  research 
into  the  art  of  the  Far  East.  To 
Mr.  William  T.  Evans,  of  New  York, 
the  gallery  is  indebted  for  a  selec- 
tion of  151  paintings  in  illustration 
of  the  work  of  contemporary  Ameri- 
can artists,  106  of  whom  are  repre- 
sented, and  also  for  numerous  ex- 
amples of  the  best  American  wood 
engraving.  There  have  also  been 
many  individual  contributions  to  the 
gallery,  and,  in  default  of  other  ac- 
commodations, its  possessions  are 
provisionally  installed  in  the  natural 
history  building,  except  the  Freer 
collection,  for  which  a  special  build- 
ing has  been  designed  and  will  imme- 
diately be  erected  at  the  expense  of 
Mr.  Freer. 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  EXCHANGE   SERVICE 


The  International  Exchange  Ser- 
vice— a  branch  of  the  United  States 
Government  carried  on  under  the 
direction  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion— serves  as  an  intermediary  for 
the  exchange  of  scientific  and  liter- 
ary publications  between  establish- 
ments and  individuals  in  the  United 
States  and  those  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. This  phase  of  its  work  was 
begun  soon  after  the  Institution  was 
founded  in  1846. 


Later,  in  1867,  an  exchange  of 
official  documents  between  govern- 
ments was  established,  and  Con- 
gress, by  act  of  March  2  of  that 
year,  provided  for  this  purpose  a 
certain  number  of  copies  of  all  par- 
liamentary acts  and  of  all  publica- 
tions printed  by  order  of  any  depart- 
ment or  bureau  of  the  Government, 
which  are  forwarded  through  the 
Exchange  Service  to  various  for- 
eign countries. 


BUREAU    OF    AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY 


The  Bureau  of  American  Ethnol- 
ogy was  established  by  Congress  in 
1879,  at  the  instance  of  the  late 
Major  J.  W.  Powell,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conducting  ethnologic  re- 
searches among  the  American  In- 
dians, but  subsequently  its  investi- 
gations were  extended  to  include 
Hawaii.  Although  devoted  chiefly 
to  the  aborigines  in  the  United 


States,  researches  by  the  bureau 
have  been  conducted  in  lesser  degree 
in  Canada,  Mexico,  Central  Amer- 
ica, South  America  and  the  West 
Indies.  In  these  investigations 
ethnology  has  been  taken  in  its 
broadest  sense  to  include  all  the 
activities  of  the  Indian  race,  as 
well  as  their  archeology  and  his- 
tory, Tbe  results  of  the  bureau'y 


580 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


studies  to  the  present  time  are  em- 
bodied in  thirty-three  annual  re- 
ports and  sixty-three  bulletins  pub- 
lished or  in  press,  as  well  as  a  num- 
ber of  miscellaneous  publications. 
The  bureau  maintains  a  corps  of 
nine  ethnologists,  possesses  an  eth- 


nologic reference  library  of  about 
21,500  volumes  and  13,500  pamph- 
lets, many  thousand  photographic 
negatives  of  Indian  portraits  and 
other  subjects,  and  a  large  collection 
of  original  manuscripts,  pertaining 
chiefly  to  Indian  linguistics. 


ANIMALS  AT  THE  NATIONAL  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 


NATIONAL   ZOOLOGICAL   PARK 


The  National  Zoological  Park,  es- 
tablished by  act  of  Congress  in 
1890,  "for  the  instruction  and  recre- 
ation of  the  people,"  and  placed 
under  the  direction  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  maintains  a  col- 
lection of  living  animals  which  is 
exhibited  free  to  the  public.  The 
park  occupies  169  acres  in  the  val- 
ley of  Rock  Creek,  about  three  miles 


northwest  of  the  White  House.  The 
collection  comprises  (June  30,  1916) 
about  1,400  specimens.  The  number 
of  visitors  during  1915  was  over 
1,000,000.  The  park  co-operates  with 
the  United  States  National  Museum, 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the 
United  States  Hygienic  Laboratory, 
and  private  investigators,  in  various 
ways. 


THE  ASTROPHYSICAL  OBSERVATORY 


The  Astrophysical  Observatory  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  founded 
in  1890  and  supported  by  small 
annual  appropriations  by  Congress, 
is  engaged  in  exact  measurements 
of  the  intensity  of  the  sun's  radi- 
ation. Principal  results :  Map  of 
Fraunhofer  lines  of  infra-red  solar 
spectrum  to  wave-length  53000  Ang- 
stroms. Determination  of  the  mean 
intensity  of  solar  radiation  out- 
side the  earth's  atmosphere,  1.93 
e?alories  per  square  centimeter  per 


minute.  Discovery  of  the  varia- 
bility of  the  sun's  radiation  through 
a  range  of  about  5  per  cent  attend- 
ing the  sun  spot  cycle,  and  also  of 
an  irregular  variability,  sometimes 
reaching  10  per  cent  in  short  inter- 
vals of  a  few  days  or  weeks.  Prin- 
cipal observing  station  on  Mount 
Wilson,  California.  Expeditions  to 
North  Carolina,  Sumatra,  Flint 
Island  for  total  solar  eclipse  work, 
and  to  Mount  Whitney,  Cal.  (14,500 
feet)  and  Bassour,  Algeria,  for  solar 


THE  SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION 


581 


radiation  work.  Inventions  of  sil- 
ver disk  pyrheliometer,  standard 
water  pyrheliometers  and  pyrano- 
meter.  Furnished  about  thirty 


standardized  silver  disk  pyrhelio- 
meters to  government  and  private 
observatories  in  various  parts  of  the 
world. 


UNITED    STATES    REGIONAL    BUREAU INTERNATIONAL    CATALOGUE    OF 

SCIENTIFIC   LITERATURE 


The  International  Catalogue  of 
Scientific  Literature  publishes  an 
annual  classified  index  to  the  liter- 
ature of  science.  The  organization 
consists  of  a  central  bureau  in  Lon- 
don and  thirty-three  regional  bu- 


reaus established  in,  and  supported 
by,  the  principal  countries  of  the 
world.  That  for  the  United  States 
is  supported  by  an  annual  appro- 
priation from  Congress,  adminis- 
tered by  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


TOWER      TELESCOPE,      ASTROPHYSICAL 
OBSERVATORY,     MOUNT    WILSON 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS  ACTIVITIES  OF  THE 
GOVERNMENT 

THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT  PRINTING 

OFFICE 

WASHINGTON,   D.   C. 

By  Hon.  CORNELIUS  FORD,  Public  Printer 


FROM  1789  to  1861  the  Govern- 
ment printing  and  binding  was 
done  in  private  offices.  This 
plan  became  expensive  and  unsatis- 
factory, and  in  1861  Congress  au- 
thorized the  purchase  of  the  print- 
ing plant  then  owned  by  Cornelius 
Wendall,  located  on  a  portion  of  the 
site  now  occupied  by  what  is  known 
as  the  "old  building."  This  office 
at  the  time  of  purchase  employed 
300  persons,  and  the  Government 
paid  approximately  $135,000  for  the 
building  and  equipment.  Subse- 
quently various  additions  were  made 
to  the  plant,  but  were  inadequate  to 
meet  the  demands  for  work.  The 
development  of  printing  and  binding 
for  the  public  is  typical  of  the  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  growth  of 
the  republic,  and  emphasizes  the 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation 
that  characterizes  the  American 
people — a  spirit  that  is  causing  an 
almost  fabulous  volume  of  printing 
on  subjects  of  general,  special,  or 
peculiar  interest  to  our  citizens. 

In  1899,  the  need  of  larger  quar- 
ters having  become  imperative, 
Congress  authorized  the  construc- 
tion of  the  present  building  on 
ground  adjoining  the  old  offices. 
This  building  is  of  magnificent  pro- 
porti9ns?  and  |s  a  landmark  in  the 


Capital  City,  and  an  enduring  monu- 
ment to  the  art  of  typography  and 
the  part  it  plays  in  our  Government. 
It  contains  7  floors,  with  basement 
and  loft,  with  floor  space  of  372,350 
square  feet,  and  cost  approximately 
$2,410,000.  The  old  building  is  used 
principally  for  storage,  and  com- 
bined floor  area  of  entire  plant  is 
13^  acres.  The  office  is  as  nearly 
fireproof  as  any  building  can  be 
made,  and  numerous  wide  staircases 
are  distributed  in  such  a  way  as  to 
facilitate  the  egress  of  employees  in 
case  of  fire  or  panic.  The  most  up- 
to-date  sanitary  conditions  prevail, 
an  emergency  hospital  is  provided 
for  the  use  of  employees,  and  a 
"rest  room"  is.  available  for  use  of 
women  employees  who  may  become 
exhausted  during  working  hours. 
There  are  about  4,000  persons  em- 
ployed, and  the  entire  plant  is  under 
the  direct  management  of  the  Public 
Printer,  who  is  appointed  by  the 
President  at  an  annual  salary  of 
$5,500. 

The  general  layout  is  as  follows: 
Job  Composing  Room — 92  employees, 
with  up-to-date  equipment;  this  sec- 
tion handles  30,000  jobs  in  a  year. 
Linotype  Composing  Section — 245 
employees,  with  81  linotype  machines 
and  first  class  equipment; 


by  Munn  &  Co.,  Inc. 


MISCELLANEOUS  ACTIVITIES 


583 


billion  ems  of  type  are  set  in  one 
year  on  the  linotype  machines. 
Monotype  Composing  Section — 435 
employees,  with  165  keyboards  and 
126  casters ;  about  1  billion  300  mil- 
lion ems  of  type  are  set  in  one  year 
on  the  monotype  machines.  Hand 
Composing  Section — 225  employees, 
engaged  principally  in  correcting, 
making  up  and  imposing.  Proof 
Room — 270  employees,  engaged  in 
editing,  preparing,  reading  and  re- 
vising. Electrotype  and  Stereotype 
Foundry — 130  employees,  with  up-to- 
date  equipment,  producing  over 
13,000,000  square  inches  of  plated 
matter  in  a  year.  Press  Room — 443 
employees,  with  145  modern  presses ; 
all  rollers  and  about  one-third  of 
necessary  ink  are  made  on  premises. 
Bindery — 950  employees,  with  com- 
plete machine  equipment  for  all 
kinds  of  pamphlet  and  bound  work. 
A  number  of  smaller  divisions 
handle  special  work,  such  as  postal 
cards,  money  order  books,  etc. 
Branch  offices  are  located  in  the 
State,  War  and  Navy  building  and 
In  the  Congressional  Library,  and 
handle  emergency  work  for  these 
branches  of  the  Government. 

The  buildings  contain  16  elevators, 
besides  several  lifts  for  handling 
forms  of  type  from  pressroom  or 
foundry.  Eight  automobile  trucks, 
with  capacity  ranging  from  1,000  to 
8,000  pounds  each,  together  with  a 
number  of  side-car  motorcycles,  de- 
liver all  work  produced  in  the  Gov- 
ernment Printing  Office.  Pneumatic 
tubes  furnish  rapid  communication 
between  various  divisions.  A  plate 
vault  for  the  storage  and  safekeep- 
ing of  electrotype  and  stereotype 
plates  is  located  in  the  basement  of 
the  new  building,  occupying  10,000 
square  feet  of  floor  space ;  old  plates 
are  constantly  being  destroyed  and 
the  metal  used  over,  and  new  plates 
added ;  about  1,200,000  plates,  weigh- 
ing approximately  7,OOQ,000  pounds, 
are  constantly  on  hand. 

The  engine  room  equipment  con- 
sists of  four  electric  generator? 
totaling  2,500  kilowatts,  two  air 
compressors  with  capacity  of  3,000 


cubic  feet  of  free  air  per  minute, 
one  2,000,000  gallon  pumping  engine, 
and  one  refrigerating  plant  for  cir- 
culating drinking  water  and  making 
ice.  The  boiler  room  equipment 
consists  of  eight  boilers,  six  of  which 
are  Scotch  marine  type,  hand  fired, 
totaling  1,800  horse-power,  and  two 
are  water  tube  boilers  with  auto- 
matic stokers,  totaling  1,000  horse- 
power ;  a  total  of  2,800  horse-power. 

The  total  value  of  all  machine 
equipment  is  approximately  $2,500,- 
000.  The  upkeep  of  building  and 
equipment  is  under  the  direction  of 
a  superintendent  of  buildings,  and 
this  work  is  handled  by  an  elec- 
trical division  with  71  employees,  a 
machinists'  division  with  32  em- 
ployees, a  carpenter  division  with 
27  employees  and  a  building  division 
with  36  employees. 

The  materials  used  yearly  are  as 
follows:  Paper  stock,  32,000,000 
pounds;  ink,  65,000  pounds;  leather 
stock,  300,000  square  feet ;  gold  and 
aluminium,  30,000,000  square  inches  ; 
sewing  thread,  32,000,000  yards; 
cloth  for  binding,  250,000  yards; 
wire  for  stitching,  6,500,000  feet; 
glue,  225,000  pounds;  paste,  34,000 
gallons;  card  containers,  3,000,000; 
metals,  200,000  pounds;  keyboard 
paper,  10,200,000  feet;  coal,  12,500 
tons ;  soap,  40,000  pounds. 

The  Government  Printing  Office  is 
the  largest  office  in  the  world,  but 
printing  and  binding  is  increasing 
so  rapidly  that  it  is  only  by  exten- 
sive systematizing  of  production 
methods  can  Government  needs  be 
met.  The  vast  increase  in  work  is 
shown  by  fact  that  blanks,  schedules, 
postal  cards,  money  order  forms, 
envelopes  and  similar  work  printed 
in  fiscal  year  1915  totaled  about  3 
billion  copies,  as  compared  with 
about  131  millions  in  1880.  Book 
work  increased  proportionately  and 
about  1,700,000  type  pages  are  set 
in  one  year. 

The  output  of  postal  cards  is  ap- 
proximately 4,000,000  a  day.  About 
120,000,000  money  order  forms  are 
printed  each  year  and  delivered  in 
books  of  from  50  to  200  each. 


584 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Some  of  the  principal  items  of 
production  in  a  year  are :  Copies  on 
job  work,  postal  cards  and  money 
orders,  3,000,000,000;  blank  books, 
1,130,000;  newspapers  and  miscel- 
laneous documents  bound,  100,000; 
pamphlets  and  books  printed,  100,- 
000,000.  In  addition,  the  Daily  Con- 
gressional Record  is  printed  each 
night  during  session  of  Congress, 
varying  in  size  from  8  to  225  quarto 
pages ;  the  copy  comes  in  late  at 
night — some  of  it  as  late  as  2  A.  M. ; 
type  must  be  set,  plates  made,  34,000 
copies  printed,  folded,  gathered, 
wire-stitched  and  addressed  in  time 
to  catch  early  morning  mail.  About 
30  million  copies  of  speeches  arc? 


on  paper,  and  delivery  made  to  the 
Capitol,  one  half  mile  distant,  in 
from  15  to  20  minutes  after  copy  is 
received.  The  bound  Congressional 
Record,  covering  proceedings  of  the 
63d  Congress,  2d  Session,  made  19 
volumes;  6,130  copies  were  printed 
and  bound  on  each  volume,  making 
a  total  of  116,470  volumes. 

The  total  annual  expense  of  the 
office  is  about  $6,500,000,  and  this 
amount  is  divided  and  allotted  be- 
tween Congress,  the  departments 
and  the  various  bureaus  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  accordance  with  their 
necessity  for"  printing,  each  being 
allowed  printing  and  binding  only  to 
the  amount  of  their  allotment.  EX- 


PRINTING    4,000,000    POSTAL    CARDS    EACH  DAY. 


printed  annually  for  Members  of 
Congress  and  paid  for  by  them. 
Approximately  25,000  bills  and  reso- 
lutions of  Congress  are  printed  dur- 
ing a  session,  varying  in  size  from 
2  to  200  pages,  with  from  200  to  800 
copies  on  each.  During  the  closing 
hours  of  a  session  of  Congress  the 
pressure  for  hurried  work  is  tremen- 
dous and  there  have  been  times 
when  bills  making  from  1  to  12 
pages  have  been  put  in  type,  read, 
1  copy  printed  on  parchment  and  3 


isting  law  requires  this  printing  and 
binding  to  be  done  at  .  cost,  and 
charges  are  based  upon  a  fixed  scale 
of  prices,  regulated  by  a  modern 
cost  system,  and  rendered  for  each 
piece  of  work  produced.  Employees 
work  eight  hours  a  day,  receive  a 
compensation,  comparing  favorably 
with  union  wages  paid  throughout 
the  country,  and  are  allowed  thirty 
days'  vacation  with  pay  each  year. 
Some  divisions  of  the  office  run 
night  forces  throughout  the  year  and 


MISCELLANEOUS  ACTIVITIES 


others  only  during  the  session  of 
Congress.  Employees  working  at 
night  receive  a  20  per  cent  advance 
over  day  rates  in  pay. 

The  Division  of  Public  Documents 
is  a  central  distributing  agency  for 
Government  publications  and  re- 
ceives, by  law,  copies  of  all  public 
documents  printed  in  the  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office.  A  specified 
number  of  these  documents  are  dis- 
tributed to  certain  designated  de- 
pository libraries  throughout  the 
country,  and  other  copies  are  sold 


at  cost  to  the  public,  no  more  than 
one  copy  to  any  one  person.  Forty 
million  documents  are  sent  out  by 
this  division  in  a  year,  and  in  order 
to  facilitate  mailing  a  30-inch  belt 
conveyor,  operating  through  a  tun- 
nel 7  feet  high,  8  feet  wide  and  455 
feet  long,  connects  the  Government 
Printing  Office  with  the  mailing 
tables  of  the  city  post  office.  Copies 
of  Government  publications  can  be 
secured  by  writing  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Documents,  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 


COUNCIL   OF    NATIONAL   DEFENSE 


The  Council  of  National  Defense 
was  created  by  the  act  of  June  3, 
1916.  Its  membership  consists  of 
the  Secretaries  of  War,  Navy,  In- 
terior, Agriculture,  Commerce  and 
Labor,  and  a  civilian  advisory  com- 
mission of  seven  members  nominated 
by  the  Council  and  appointed  by  the 
President.  The  Advisory  Commis- 
sion is  composed  of  Daniel  Willard, 
president  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad,  chairman;  Samuel  Gom- 
pers,  president  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor;  Dr.  Franklin  H. 
Martin,  of  Chicago ;  Howard  E.  Cof- 
fin, of  Detroit;  Bernard  Baruch,  of 
New  York;  Dr.  Hollis  Goudfrey,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Julius  Rosenwald, 
of  Chicago.  All  the  members,  as 
such,  serve  without  compensation, 
but  are  allowed  actual  expenses  of 
travel  and  subsistence  when  attend- 
ing meetings  of  the  Council,  or  en- 
gaged in  investigations  pertaining  to 
its  activities. 

The  duties  of  the  Council  are  to 
supervise  and  direct  investigations 
and  make  recommendations  to  the 
President  and  the  heads  of  execu- 
tive departments  as  to  the  location 
of  railroads,  with  reference  to  the 
frontiers  of  the  United  States,  so 


as  to  render  possible  expeditious 
concentration  of  troops  and  supplies 
to  points  of  defense ;  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  military,  industrial,  and  com- 
mercial purposes  in  the  location  of 
extensive  highways  and  branch  lines 
of  railroads ;  the  utilization  of 
waterways;  the  mobilization  of 
military  and  naval  resources  for 
defense;  the  increase  of  domestic 
production  of  articles  and  materials 
essential  to  the  support  of  armies 
and  of  the  people  during  the  inter- 
ruption of  foreign  commerce;  the 
development  of  seagoing  trans- 
portation ;  data  as  to  amounts,  loca- 
tion, method  and  means  of  produc- 
tion, and  availability  of  military 
supplies ;  the  giving  of  information 
to  producers  and  manufacturers  as 
to  the  class  of  supplies  needed  by 
military  and  other  services  of  the 
Government,  and  the  creation  of 
relations  which  will  render  possible 
in  time  of  need  the  immediate  con- 
centration and  utilization  of  the 
resources  of  the  nation. 

It  establishes  the  policy  for  the 
Government  departments  as  regards 
national  defense.  The  actual  work 
will  be  done  by  sub-committee.  Its 
first  meeting  was  held  Dec.  6,  1916. 


INTERSTATE    COMMERCE    COMMISSION 


Bancroft  Librar? 


The  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, appointed  under  "an  act  to 
regulate  commerce,"  approved  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1887,  has  supervision  over 


all  common  carriers  engaged  in  the 
transportation  of  passengers  or 
property  wholly  by  railroad,  or 
partly  by  railroad  and  partly  by 


586 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


water,  when  both  are  used  under 
common  control,  management,  or  ar- 
rangement for  a  continuous  carriage 
or  shipment,  including  express, 
sleeping  and  parlor  car  companies, 
telephone,  cable,  telegraph  and  wire- 
less companies,  and  all  pipe  lines, 
from  one  State,  Territory,  or  Dis- 
trict of  the  United  States  to  any 
other  State,  Territory,  or  District 
of  the  United  States,  or  to  any  for- 
eign country.  It  has  jurisdiction 
to  inquire  into  and  report  on  the 
reasonableness  of  rates;  undue  or 
unreasonable  preferences  or  advan- 
tages in  transportation  rates  or 
facilities;  to  prescribe  the  publicity 
to  be  given  to  joint  tariffs;  the 
power  to  call  for  reports,  to  require 
the  attendance  of  witnesses  and  the 
production  of  books  and  papers,  to 
hear  complaints  of  the  violation  of 
the  act  made  against  any  carrier, 
and  to  determine  what  reparation 
shall  be  made  to  the  party  wronged. 

By  the  act  of  June  18,  1910,  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  commission  was 
increased  as  to  through  rates,  and 
joint  rates,  freight  classification, 
switch  connections,  long  and  short 
hauls,  filing  or  rejection  of  freight 
schedules,  investigations  on  own  mo- 
tion, determining  reasonable  rates, 
suspension  of  proposed  rates,  and 
other  matters. 

The  act  of  March  2,  1893,  known 
as  the  "safety  appliance  act,"  pro- 
vides that  railroad  cars  used  in 


interstate  commerce  must  be 
equipped  with  automatic  couplers, 
and  drawbars  of  a  standard  height 
for  freight  cars,  and  have  grab- 
irons  or  handholds  in  the  ends  and 
sides  of  each  car ;  and  that  loco- 
motive engines  shall  be  equipped 
with  a  power  driving-wheel  brake 
and  appliances  for  operating  the 
train-brake  system. 

Other  acts  have  delegated  further 
powers  and  duties  to  the  commis- 
sion, such  as  regulating  the  safe 
transportation  of  explosives  by  com- 
mon carriers ;  compelling  railroad 
companies  to  equip  locomotives  and 
tenders  with  safe  appurtenances; 
the  investigation  of  railroad  acci- 
dents ;  compelling  railroads  to  equip 
cars  with  sill  steps,  hand  brakes, 
ladders,  running  boards,  and  roof 
handholds,  and  designating  the  num- 
ber, dimensions,  location  and  man- 
ner of  application  of  appliances; 
and  making  common  carriers  liable 
for  all  damage  to  property  caused 
by  them,  and  forbids,  with  certain 
exceptions,  limitations  of  liability. 
The  commission  has  been  directed 
to  investigate,  ascertain,  and  report 
the  value  of  property  owned  or  used 
by  every  common  carrier. 

The  commission  is  now  composed 
of  seven  members.  It  appoints  a 
secretary,  and  such  attorneys,  ex- 
aminers, special  agents,  and  clerks 
as  are  necessary  in  the  proper  per- 
formance of  its  duties. 


CIVIL    SERVICE    COMMISSION 


The  purpose  of  the  civil  service 
act,  as  declared  in  its  title,  is  "to 
regulate  and  improve  the  civil  serv- 
ice of  the  United  States."  It  pro- 
vides for  the  appointment  of  three 
commissioners,  not  more  than  two 
of  whom  shall  be  adherents  of  the 
same  political  party,  and  makes  it 
the  duty  of  the  commission  to  aid 
the  President,  as  he  may  request, 
in  preparing  suitable  rules  for  car- 
rying the  act  into  effect.  The  act 
requires  that  the  rules  shall  pro- 
vide, among  other  things,  for  open 
competitive  examinations  for  test- 


ing  the  fitness  of  applicants  for  the 
classified  service,  the  making  of  ap- 
pointments from  among  those  pass- 
ing with  highest  grades,  an  appor- 
tionment of  appointments  in  the  de- 
partments at  Washington  among  the 
States  and  Territories,  a  period  of 
probation  before  absolute  appoint- 
ment, and  the  prohibition  of  the  use 
of  official  authority  to  coerce  the 
political  action  of  any  person  or 
body.  The  act  also  provides  for  in- 
vestigations touching  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  rules,  and  forbids,  under 
penalty  of  fine  or  imprisonment,  or 


MISCELLANEOUS  ACTIVITIES 


587 


both,  the  solicitation  by  any  person 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
of  contributions  to  be  used  for 
political  purposes  from  persons  in 


such  service,  or  the  collection  of 
such  political  contributions  by  any 
other  person  in  a  Government 
building. 


FEDERAL   RESERVE    BOARD 


Generally  speaking,  the  functions 
of  the  Federal  Reserve  Board  are 
to  exercise  a  broad  supervision  over 
the  affairs  and  conduct  of  twelve 
Federal  reserve  banks  established  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
Federal  reserve  act  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  and  invested  with 
authority  to  discount  paper,  issue 
Federal  reserve  notes,  and  perform 
the  various  banking  functions  de- 
scribed in  the  act  itself.  The  board 
has  full  power  to  appoint  its  own 
staff  of  employees  and  officers  and 
to  regulate  the  conditions  of  their 


employment.  Its  support  is  derived 
from  the  several  reserve  banks  from 
assessments  levied  by  it  half  yearly 
pro  rata.  The  board  is  responsible 
to  Congress  and  reports  annually  to 
that  body.  Certain  functions  in  con- 
nection with  the  national  banking 
system  are  also  assigned  to  it  under 
the  legislation,  although  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency,  who  is  a 
member  of  the  board,  exercises  the 
same  general  administrative  and 
supervisory  authority  over  the  na- 
tional banks  that  has  been  in  his 
hands  in  the  past. 


THE    FEDERAL   TRADE    COMMISSION 


The  Federal  Trade  Commission 
was  organized  March  16,  1915.  It 
consists  of  five  Commissioners,  ap- 
pointed by  the  President.  Their 
term  of  office  is  seven  years,  and  not 
more  than  three  of  them  shall  be  of 
the  same  political  party.  The  work 
of  the  Commission  falls  within  three 
main  divisions. 

First,  it  is  charged  with  the  duty 
of  enforcing  the  law  against  unfair 
methods  of  competition.  It  receives 
informal  complaints  of  such  meth- 
ods employed  in  interstate  com- 
merce. If  upon  examination  there 
is,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Commis- 
sion, reason  to  believe  that  such  un- 
fair methods  are  being  used  it  pro- 
ceeds to  have  them  corrected,  either 
by  informal  negotiations  with  the 
parties  complained  against  or,  in 
case  this  fails,  by  filing  its  own 
formal  complaint  and  conducting 
hearings  in  the  case.  If  the  prac- 
tices complained  of  are  found  ac- 
tually to  exist  the  Commission  issues 
its  order  directing  those  indulging  in 
them  to  cease  and  desist.  The  Com- 
mission has  considered  and  disposed 
of  many  cases  and  in  most  instances 
the  practices  complained  of  have 


been  abandoned  without  the  filing 
of  formal  complaints. 

Second,  it  makes,  either  on  its 
own  initiative,  if  deemed  in  the  pub- 
lic interest,  or  by  direction  of  either 
House  of  Congress,  special  investi- 
gations of  particular  industries  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  all  the 
facts  relative  thereto,  with  the  view 
of  correcting  abuses  if  any  are 
found  to  exist.  It  has  concluded,  or 
is  now  conducting,  investigations  of 
this  kind  with  respect  to  the  fer- 
tilizer, petroleum,  beet  sugar,  coal 
and  print  paper  industries,  and 
others.  It  has  also  investigated  con- 
ditions in  the  foreign  trade  of  the 
United  States  and  the  tariff  laws 
and  regulations  of  several  South 
American  countries. 

Third,  it  offers  its  advice  and 
assistance  to  business  men  along 
lines  that  will  be  helpful  in  bring- 
ing about  greater  efficiency.  In  this 
connection  it  has  prepared  systems 
of  cost  accounting  that  are  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  manufacturers  and 
merchants.  In  addition  to  this  its 
expert  accountants  are  available  to 
associations  of  business  men  for  the 
purpose  of  conferring  with  them  and 


688 


OUR  COtNT&Y  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


offering  advice  with  respect  to  their 
accounting  methods.  Merchants  and 
manufacturers  can  obtain  copies  of 


bulletins  containing  the  accounting 
systems  upon  application  to  the 
Commission  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


UNITED  STATES  GEOGRAPHIC  BOARD 


By  Executive 
order  of  August 
10,  1906,  the  offi- 
cial title  of  the 
United  States 
Board  on  Geo- 
graphic Names 
was  changed  to 
United  States 
Geographic  Board  and  its  duties 
enlarged. 

The  Board  passes  on  all  unsettled 
questions  concerning  geographic 
names  which  arise  in  the  depart- 
ments, as  well  as  determining, 
changing  and  fixing  place  names 
within  the  United  States  and  its 
insular  possessions,  and  all  names 
hereafter  suggested  by  any  officer  of 


the  Government  shall  be  referred  to 
the  board  before  publication.  The 
decisions  of  the  board  are  to  be 
accepted  by  all  departments  of  the 
Government  as  standard  authority. 
Advisory  powers  were  granted  the 
board  concerning  the  preparation  of 
maps  compiled,  or  to  be  compiled,  in 
the  various  offices  and  bureaus  of 
the  Government,  with  a  special  view 
to  the  avoidance  of  unnecessary 
duplications  of  work;  and  for  the 
unification  and  improvement  of  the 
scales  of  maps,  of  the  symbols  and 
conventions  used  upon  them,  and  of 
the  methods  of  representing  relief. 
All  projects  of  importance  are  now 
submitted  to  this  board  for  advice 
before  being  undertaken. 


COMMISSION   OF    FINE    ARTS 


The  duties  of  the  Commission  of 
Fine  Arts  consist  of  giving  general 
advice  upon  the  location  of  statues, 
fountains  and  monuments  in  the 
public  squares,  streets  and  parks  in 
the  District  of  Columbia;  upon  the 
selection  of  models  for  statues, 
fountains  and  monuments  erected 
under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States ;  and  the  method  of  selection 


of  the  artists  for  their  execution ; 
upon  the  plans  and  designs  for  pub- 
lic structures  and  parks  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia ;  and  upon  all 
questions  involving  matters  of  art 
with  which  the  Federal  Government 
is  concerned.  The  commission  ad- 
vises upon  general  questions  of  art 
whenever  requested  to  do  so  by  the 
President  or  a  committee  of  Congress. 


ARLINGTON    MEMORIAL   AMPHITHEATER   COMMISSION 


Created  by  public  buildings  act  of 
March  4,  1913,  to  direct  the  construc- 
tion of  a  memorial  amphitheater  and 
chapel  in  Arlington  National  Ceme- 
tery, Virginia,  at  a  cost  of  $750,000. 
The  building  will  consist  of  an  ellip- 
tical structure  inclosing  an  open-air 
amphitheater  with  seating  capacity 
for  about  5,000  persons.  The  exterior 
of  the  building  will  be  in  the  form  of 
a  colonnade  of  white  Vermont  mar- 
ble with  entrances  at  the  ends  of  the 
principal  axes.  The  front  entrance 
will  be  on  the  east,  and  this  section 
will  contain  on  the  first  floor  a  recep- 


tion hall  and  stage  of  the  auditorium, 
a  museum  room  on  the  second  floor 
and  a  chapel  in  the  basement.  Thv 
entrance  will  be  on  the  west  side. 

The  Commission  consists  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  chairman;  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  United  States  Capitol 
Building  and  Grounds  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  Confederate  Veterans  and 
United  Spanish  War  Veterans. 
Colonel  Wm.  W.  Harts,  U.  S.  Army, 
is  the  Executive  and  Disbursing 
Officer  of  the  Commission. 


MISCELLANEOUS  ACTIVITIES 


ALASKAN  ENGINEERING  COMMISSION 

The  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission 
was  created  under  the  act  of  March  12, 
1914,  which  empowered,  authorized,  and 
directed  the  President  to  locate,  con- 
struct, operate,  or  lease  a  railroad,  or 
railroads,  to  connect  the  interior  of 
Alaska  with  one  or  more  of  the  open 
navigable  ports  on  the  coast.  Authority 
was  also  granted  to  purchase  existing 
railroads,  to  construct,  maintain,  and 
operate  telegraph  and  telephone  lines, 
and  to  make  reservations  of  public  lands 
in  Alaska  necessary  for  the  purposes  of 
the  railroad. 

For  the  execution  of  this  work  a  com- 
mission of  three  engineers  was  appointed 
by  the  President  to  make  the  necessary 
surveys.  They  were  directed  to  report 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under 
whom  the  President  has  placed  the  gen- 
eral administration  of  the  work. 

NATIONAL     ADVISORY     COMMITTEE     FOR 
AERONAUTICS 

The  National  Advisory  Committee  for 
Aeronautics  was  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, pursuant  to  act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved March  3,  1915.  Its  membership 
consists  of  two  officers  of  the  Army,  two 
officers  of  the  Navy,  a  representative 
each  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the 
United  States  Weather  Bureau,  and  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Standards,  to- 
gether with  one  member  from  the  Treas- 
ury Department  and  four  professors 
from  various  universities  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  needs  of  aeronautical 
science,  or  skilled  in  aeronautical  engi- 
neering or  its  allied  sciences.  All  the 
members,  as  such,  serve  without  com- 
pensation. 

The  duties  of  the  committee,  as  pro- 
vided by  Congress,  are  to  supervise  and 
direct  the  scientific  study  of  the  prob- 
lems of  flight,  with  a  view  to  their  prac- 
tical solution,  and  to  determine  the 
problems  which  should  be  experimentally 
attacked,  and  to  discuss  their  solution 
and  their  application  to  practical  ques- 
tions. 

UNITED    STATES    BOARD    OF    MEDIATION 
AND     CONCILIATION 

The  purpose  for  which  the  Board  of 
Mediation  and  Conciliation  was  estab- 
lished is  to  settle  by  mediation,  con- 
ciliation, and  arbitration  controversies 
concerning  wages,  hours  of  labor,  or 
conditions  of  employment  that  may  arise 
between  common  carriers  engaged  in 
interstate  transportation  and  their  em- 
ployees engaged  in  train  operation  or 
train  service.  The  board  is  an  inde- 
pendent office,  not  connected  with  any 
department. 

GENERAL    SUPPLY    COMMITTEE 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  General  Supply 
Committee  to  make  an  annual  schedule 
of  required  miscellaneous  supplies  for 


the  use  of  each  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments and  other  Government  establish- 
ments in  Washington,  to  standardize 
such  supplies,  eliminating  all  unneces- 
sary grades  and  varieties,  and  to  solicit 
bids  based  upon  formulas  and  specifica- 
tions. It  is  composed  of  one  officer  from 
each  of  the  executive  departments, 
designated  by  the  head  thereof. 

BOARD    OF    INDIAN     COMMISSIONERS 

The  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners, 
created  in  1869,  is  a  body  of  unpaid 
citizens,  appointed  by  the  President,  who 
maintain  an  office  in  Washington,  for 
the  expenses  of  which  and  of  travel 
Congress  appropriates.  The  board  is 
not  a  bureau  or  division  of  any  depart- 
ment, but  is  purposely  kept  reasonably 
independent  and  afforded  opportunities 
for  investigation  in  order  that  it  may 
freely  express  an  intelligent  and  impar- 
tial opinion  concerning  Indian  legis- 
lation and  administration.  Its  legal 
duties  are  to  visit  and  inspect  branches 
of  the  Indian  Service,  to  co-operate  with 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  in 
the  purchase  and  inspection  of  Indian 
supplies,  and  to  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  to  whom  and  to  the 
President  the  board  acts  in  an  advisory 
capacity,  with  respect  to  plans  for 
civilizing  or  dealing  with  the  Indians. 

THE     INTERNATIONAL     JOINT 
COMMISSION 

The  International  Joint  Commission 
was  created  by  treaty  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, and  has  jurisdiction  over  all  cases 
involving  the  use  or  obstruction  or  diver- 
sion of  waters  forming  the  international 
boundary  or  crossing  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Canada, 
and  questions  or  matters  of  difference 
involving  the  rights,  obligations,  or  in- 
terests of  the  United  States  or  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada. 

COMMISSION     FOR     EQUITABLE     DISTRI- 
BUTION   OF   WATERS    OF  THE 
RIO    GRANDE 

This  commission  was  authorized  by 
the  protocol  of  May  6,  1896,  between 
Mexico  .and  the  United  States,  and  their 
treaty  of  1848,  authorizing  the  appoint- 
ment of  "commissioners"  to  settle  "any 
disagreement"  or  "differences"  between 
the  two  countries.  It  is  commonly 
called  "Commission  for  the  Equitable 
Distribution  of  the  Waters  of  the  Rio 
Grande" — the  boundary  for  about  1,300 
miles  between  these  two  nations. 

INTERNATIONAL      (CANADIAN)      BOUND- 
ARY   COMMISSIONS 

The  International  (Canadian)  Bound' 
ary  Commissions  were  authorized  by 
conventions  or  treaties  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  as 
follows : 


590 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


1.  January    24,    1906.      For    defining 
and     marking     the     boundary     between 
Alaska   and   British    Columbia.      Length, 
862  miles. 

2.  April   21,   1906.      For  defining   and 
marking    the    boundary    between    Alaska 
and   Canada,   along  the   141st   meridian. 
Length,    625   miles. 

3.  For     defining     and     marking     the 
boundary     between     the     United     States 
and    Canada    from    the    Atlantic    Ocean 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  with  the  exception 
of   the   Great    Lakes    and    the    St.    Law- 
rence River.     Length,  2,647   miles. 

UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EFFICIENCY 

The  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Efficiency 
are  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system 
of  efficiency  ratings  for  the  executive 
departments  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ; 
to  investigate  the  needs  of  the  several 
executive  departments  and  independent 
establishments  with  respect  to  personnel, 
and  to  investigate  duplication  of  statis- 
tical work  and  methods  of  business  in 
the  various  branches  of  the  Government 
service. 

COURT   OF    CLAIMS   OF   THE   UNITED 
STATES 

This  court  was  established  by  act  of 
Congress  February  24,  1855.  It  has 
general  jurisdiction  of  all  "claims 
founded  upon  the  Constitution  of  the 


United  States  or  any  law  of  Congress, 
except  for  pensions,  or  upon  any  regu- 
lations of  an  executive  department,  or 
upon  any  contract,  express  or  implied, 
with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  or  for  damages,  liquidated  or 
unliquidated,  in  cases  not  sounding  in 
tort,  in  respect  of  which  claims  the 
party  would  be  entitled  to  redress 
against  the  United  States,  either  in  a 
court  of  law,  equity,  or  admiralty,  if  the 
United  States  were  suable,  except  claims 
growing  out  of  the  late  Civil  War  and 
commonly  known  as  war  claims,"  and 
certain  rejected  claims.  The  court  is 
also  vested  with  the  jurisdiction  of  cer- 
tain Indian  depredation  claims. 

FEDERAL     WORKMEN'S      COMPENSATION 
COMMISSION 

The  Federal  Workmen's  Compensation 
Commission  is  charged  with  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Federal  Workmen's  Com- 
pensation Law.  The  law  provides  for 
the  payment  of  35  per  cent  of  wages 
during  widowhood  to  the  widow  of  any 
workman  employed  by  the  Government 
and  killed  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and 
grants  to  a  workman  during  period  of 
total  disability  a  monthly  payment  of 
two-thirds  of  his  wages  and  a  less 
amount  in  the  case  of  partial  disability. 
Provision  is  also  made  f6r  payment  to 
dependents,  other  than  the  widow,  in 
case  of  death  of  a  workman. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  PAN-AMERICAN  UNION 


AT    the    entrance    of    Potomac 
Park,    in    Washington,    stands 
one     of     the     most     beautiful 
structures  ever  erected  in  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere,  namely,  the  build- 
ing   of    the    Pan-American    Union. 
The   structure   and    grounds    repre- 
sent an  investment  of  $1,100,000,  of 
which  the  American   republics  con- 
tributed  $250,000   and   Dr.   Andrew 


Carnegie  $850,000,  The  architec- 
ture is  an  appropriate  combination 
of  the  classical  and  Spanish  renais- 
sance. A  lofty  vestibule  opens  into 
a  typical  Latin- American  "patio,"  or 
courtyard,  in  the  center  of  which  is 
a  beautiful  fountain,  while  gorgeous 
parrots  squawk  around  and  trop- 
ical monkeys  disport  themselves  in 
cages.  Plants  and  flowers  of  the 


PAN-AMERICAN    UNION,    FRONT    FACADE,    WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 
Copyright   by   Munn   &   Co.,    Inc. 


692 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


rarest  flora  of  tropical  America  are 
found  everywhere,  while  under  the 
cornice  are  the  coats-of-arms  of  the 
American  republics  and  the  names 
of  men  prominent  in  their  history. 
The  glass  roof  above  is  operated  by 
electricity  and  can  be  closed  at  a 
moment's  notice.  In  the  rear  of  the 
patio  is  a  wide  corridor,  now  used 
for  exhibits  of  Latin-American 
countries,  and  back  of  that  is  a 
large  reading  and  reference  room. 

The  second  floor  is  approached  by 
two  grand  stairways  and  contains 
a  broad  corridor,  or  foyer,  in  which 
are  suspended  the  national  flags  of 
the  American  republics.  This  foyer 
opens  upon  the  "Hall  of  the  Amer- 
icas," a  large  salon  100  feet  in 
length  and  70  feet  in  width.  On 
this  floor  will  also  be  found  the 
Governing  Board  room  and  offices. 
In  the  rear  of  the  main  structure  is 
a  beautiful  sunken  garden,  with  a 


pool  forming  the  central  feature, 
and  the  building  of  the  Pan-Amer- 
ican Annex  forms  the  background. 
The  tile  effects  are  marvelous. 

It  may  well  be  asked  what  is  the 
meaning  of  this  magnificent  build- 
ing? What  is  its  history,,  organiza- 
tion and  purpose? 

The  Pan-American  Union  (for- 
merly known  as  the  International 
Bureau  of  the  American  Republics) 
was  established  in  the  year  1890  in 
accordance  with  the  resolutions 
passed  at  the  first  Pan-American 
conference,  held  at  Washington  in 
1889-90,  and  presided  over  by  Mr. 
Elaine,  then  United  States  Secre- 
tary of  State.  It  was  indorsed  and 
continued  by  resolutions  of  the  sec- 
ond conference  at  Mexico  in  1901 ; 
the  third,  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  in  1906, 
and  the  fourth,  at  Buenos  Aires,  in 
1910.  Its  reorganization  under  the 
present  administration  dates  practi- 


PATIO,    PAN-AMERICAN   TJNION,    WASHINGTON,    P.    C. 


THE  PAN-AMERICAN  UNION 


593 


cally  from  January,  1907,  following 
the  third  conference,  which  was  at- 
tended by  Elihu  Root,  then  Secre- 
tary of  State. 

The  Pan-American  Union  is  the 
international  organization  and  office 
maintained  by  the  twenty-one  Amer- 
ican republics,  as  follows :  Argen- 
tina, Bolivia,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colom- 
bia, Costa  Rica,  Cuba,  Dominican 
Republic,  Ecuador,  Guatemala, 
Haiti,  Honduras,  Mexico,  Nicaragua, 
Panama,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Salvador, 
United  States,  Uruguay  and  Vene- 
zuela. It  is  devoted  to  the  develop- 
ment and  advancement  of  commerce, 
friendly  intercourse  and  good  under- 
standing among  these  countries.  It 
is  supported  by  quotas  contributed 
by  each  country,  based  upon  the 
population.  Its  affairs  are  admin- 
istered by  a  director  general  and 
assistant  director,  elected  by  and 
responsible  to  a  Governing  Board, 
which  is  composed  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  United  States  and 
the  diplomatic  representatives  in 
Washington  of  the  other  American 
governments.  These  two  executive 
officers  are  assisted  by  a  staff  of 
international  experts,  statisticians, 
commercial  specialists,  editors, 


translators,  compilers,  librarians, 
clerks  and  stenographers.  The  Gov- 
erning Board  holds  regular  meet- 
ings to  consider  the  work  of  the 
Pan-American  Union  and  to  act 
upon  the  reports  and  recommenda- 
tions of  the  director  general.  This 
board  in  turn  selects  a  supervising 
committee  which  considers  matters 
not  requiring  the  attention  of  the 
entire  board.  Appointments  to  the 
staff  are  made  by  the  director  gen- 
eral and  the  supervisory  committee 
only  after  rigid  competitive  examina- 
tion of  applicants.  Although,  being 
an  international  institution,  the  Pan- 
American  Union  is  not  under  the 
rules  of  the  United  States  Civil 
Service,  its  regulations  covering  ex- 
aminations and  additions  to  its  staff 
are  even  more  strict  than  those  of 
the  Civil  Service  and  usually  re- 
quire an  accurate  and  fluent  knowl- 
edge of  Spanish  or  Portuguese. 

Special  pamphlets  on  the  twenty 
Latin-American  republics,  with  spe- 
cific information  as  to  their  form  of 
government,  industries,  etc.,  have 
been  issued  and  may  be  obtained  by 
addressing  the  Director  -  General, 
Pan-American  Union,  Washington, 
D.  C. 


THE   "HALL  OF  THE  AMERICAS" 


694 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


INDEX 


Accidents.  Automobile 228 

Accidents,   Mining    195 

Accidents,    Railway    156,  158 

Aerological  Observatory    413 

Aeronautics   363 

Aeronautics,   Military    290 

Aeronautics,  National  Advisory  Com- 
mission       589 

Aeroplane,   Mechanics   of 373 

Aeroplane    Squadron,    Rolling    Stock 

for     375 

Aeroplanes,    Bombing    379 

Aeroplanes,    Fighting    378 

Aeroplanes.  Scouting 376 

Agricultural    Implements    216 

Agricultural  Population    40 

Agriculture    37 

Agriculture,    Department    of 547 

Agriculture.  Intensive 63 

Aircraft.  Records   378 

Airships   367 

Alaska    327 

Alaskan  Fisheries 71 

Aluminium    182 

"America"    353 

American   Commerce    231 

American  Flag   347 

Animal  Industry.  Bureau  of 555 

Antarctic   Regions    10 

Anticyclones    416 

Antimony 184 

Apples     50 

Architect.  Supervising  Treasury....  503 

Arctic  Regions    10 

Area  of  the  United   States 19 

Area  of  United  States  and   Foreign 

Countries   21 

Arlington    Radio    Station 385 

Army  Bill    282 

Army,    Enlistments    284 

Army,  Recruiting 286 

Army,   Reserve    288 

Army.  United  States 281 

Arsenic     194 

Asbestos     194 

Asphalt     195 

Assay  Office,  New  York 309 

Astronomy    423 

Astrophysical  Observatory   580 

Attorney  General 519 

Atmosphere,  The    411 

Aurora    418 

Automobile  Industry    223 

Aviation,  Military    375 


Balboa    4 

Balloon    Sounding    412 

Balloons     364 

Barley    44 


Barytes    . , 188 

Battleships,  Wireless  on 389 

Beans     56 

Bell,  Alexander  Graham 208 

Bicycles    217 

Bill  Washing  Machine 297 

Bills.   Legislative    458 

Biological  Survey   556 

Bismuth   184 

Blast  Furnaces   215 

Blizzards    419 

Bombing  Aeroplanes    379 

Borax    195 

Box  Manufacture   80 

Brick    190 

Bridge,  Hell  Gate 151 

Bromine    194 

Buckwheat     45 

Buildings,  Tall   210 

Bullion,  Melting  and  Refining  of .  .  .  309 

Butter     213 

Butter   Churning    , GO 


Cabinet,  The   470 

Cables  of  the  World 3S2 

Calcium  Chloride    194 

Canning    and    Preserving 212 

Capitol    at    Washington 455 

Carriages    217 

Cars,    Railway    147 

Cattle    Raising    Regions 59 

Cattle    Statistics    CO 

Cement 190 

Census  Bureau   564 

Census,    First    482 

Cheese    213 

Chemicals     220 

Chemistry.    Bureau    of 556 

Children's  Bureau    574 

Chromic   Iron  Ore 184 

Cities  of  the   United   States 29 

Civil    Service    Commission 586 

Claims.   Court   of 590 

Clay  and  Clay  Products   190 

Climate     422 

Cloud    Forms     410,  420 

Coal    186 

Coal  Production.  World's 183 

Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey 127 

Coast   Guard    139.  502 

Cocoa,  World's  Production  of 55 

Cod 70 

Coffee,  World's  Production  of 55 

Coins,   Counting,    by    Machines 295 

Coins,  Legal  Weight  of 320 

Coins,  Minting   of 313 

Coke   Oven   By-Products 186 

College  Enrollment    255 

Columbus,  Discoveries  of 2 

Comets    437 


INDEX 


595 


Commerce,  American 231 

Commercial  Preparedness 245 

Comptroller  of  the  Currency 494 

Commissioner  of  Patents 540 

Construction  and  Repair,  Bureau  of  536 

Comptroller   of  the   Treasury 498 

Commerce,    Department    of 561 

Consular   Service    485 

Copper    180 

Copper,  World's  Production  of 197 

Cordage    213 

Corn    42 

Cotton    47,  49 

Cotton   Goods    213 

Cotton,  World's  Production  of 48 

Court  of  Claims,  U.  S 590 

Crossties    80 

Crossties   Purchased    82 

Crosstic~.  Wood  for 82 

Culebra   Cut    117 

Cultivation,  World's  Commercial 39 

Cusk    70 

Cyclones     416 


Daguerre    207 

Dairy    Production,    World's 64 

Declaration   of   Independence.  .  .486,  487 

Defense,   Council  of   National 585 

Department    of    State 479 

Derelicts,    Destroying    142 

Desertions,   Navy    274 

Diamonds,   World's   Production   of..  197 

Diesel.    Dr 209 

Dirigible  Balloons    368 

Dutch  Possessions   13 

Dye  Plants    : 249 

Dyestuffs    '. 220 


Eads,   James  B 205 

Earthquakes    9 

Edison,    Thomas    A 198 

Education    255,  544 

Eiffel  Tower  Wireless 391 

Electric  Cars 217 

Electrical   Industry    217 

Ellis  Island    35,  501 

Education    255,  544 

Engraving     and     Printing,     Bureau 

of    299,  499 

Enlisted  Men.    Navy 272 

Enlistments,  Army 284 

Entomology,    Bureau   of 556 

Ericsson,  John    205 

Ethnology,  Bureau  of 579 

Explosives    220 

Exports    and    Imports 232,233 

Express  Service   154 


Families  per  Square  Mile 24 

Farm    Products     38.  62 

Federal    Reserve    Act 248 

Federal    Reserve    Board 587 

Federal    Trade    Commission    .  .  .  248,  587 

Feldspar     195 

Felt   Goods    213 

Fertilizers    220 

Fighting  Aeroplanes    378 

Fine  Arts   Commission 588 

Fire  Lookout   74 


Fires,    Forest    ,»,,,,,,,,,,,  86 

Fish  Commission  Car 69 

Fish   We   Eat 67 

Fisheries,  Bureau    of 72,  566 

Fisheries  of   the   World 66 

Fisheries  Products     68 

Flag,   Battle,  of  Lake  Erie 358 

Flags,  Trophy,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy .  .  357 

Flax 50 

Flour  and   Grist  Mills 212 

Fluorspar     190 

Foghorn    138 

Footwear    219 

Foreign   Trade   Problems    247 

Forest  Fires    84 

Forest  Regions,    Natural    81 

Forests   and    Forestry 75,  555 

Forests,    National    84 

Freight   Service.    Railway 152,  154 

French  Possessions    13 

Fuels    186 

Fuller's  Earth    ...  .195 


Gaillard  Cut   117 

Garnet    195 

Gas   Industry    221 

Gas.  Natural   188 

Catling,    R.    J 206 

Gems  and   Precious   Stones 195 

General    Staff   Corps 507 

Geodetic  Survey   127 

Geographical  Discovery,  Progress  of  .1,  11 

Geological   Survey    119 

Geographic    Board.    U.    S 588 

German    Possessions,    Former 13 

Geysers     94 

Glacier  Park 98 

Glass     221 

Gloves,   Leather    219 

Glucose     222 

Goethals,  Colonel   118 

Gold    177 

Gold  Production.  World's 179 

Good  Roads  and  Bad 103 

Government  Protection  at  Sea 135 

Government  Surveys 119 

Granite  Production    196 

Graphite     195 

Gravel     196 

Great  Britain's  Possessions 12 

Greenbacks,    How   Made 299 

Guam    344 

Gypsum    192 

H 

Haddock   67 

Hake    71 

Hail    421 

Halibut    67,  70 

Halos    420 

Hats 213 

Hawaiian   Islands    330 

Hay    46 

Health  Service,  U.  S.  Public 500 

Heavens  Above 423 

Herring    70 

Hides  and  Skins    64 

Houses   of    Congress 455 

Hops     54 

Horses  and  Mules 60 

Hosiery    213 

House  of  Representatives 457 


596 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


House  of  Congress 455 

Howe,   Elias,  Jr 202 

Humidity    f!9 

Hydrographic  Office 129 


Ice,  Artificial   221 

Illiteracy    ••••••  257 

Immigration 33,  34,  57d 

Imports  and  Exports    .  ...  ••••••••  232 

Inaugural  Address,  President  Deliv- 
ering    4(>4 

Inaugural  Procession     450 

Indian  Population    ^° 

Industrial  Preparedness    245 

Insurance,    War    Risk 504 

Intensive  Agriculture °a 

Interior,  Department  of  the .  .  .  539 

Internal   Revenue,    Commission   ot.  .  4«b 

Interstate    Commerce    Commission..  5 

Inventors,   Hired    ^4 

Iron  Ore  and  Iron   ^»u 

Iron  Ore,   Chromic    • |»* 

Iron    World's  Production  of lo«J 

Irrigation   (See  Reclamation) 

Isochronic  Distances  of  the  World .  .  34b 


Jupiter    •  • 

Justice,    Department   of. 
Jute    


436 
213 


K 


Knit  Goods   213 

Kodak,  Autographic  Patent 206 


Labor,  Department   of    

Labor  Statistics,   Bureau   of 

Land  and  Sea,    Profiles    of 

Land  Office,  General 

Languages  of  the  World 

Laths    

Laundries     

Lead,   WorldV 'Production   of 

Leather  Industry   

Legislative  Halls    

Library  of   Congress 

Libraries    • •  •  y 

Lighthouses,  Bureau  of 135, 

Lightning  

Lightships    

Lime    

Limestone  Production   

Lincoln   Highway   

Linoleum    

Live  Stock  

Livingstone    

Lobsters     ::••  •  •  Y 

Locks,    Panama    .* 110,111, 

Locomotive,  Powdered  Coal  Burning 

Locomotives 

Lumber  Cut 

Lumber  Production   

M 

Machine  Guns 29* 

Magnesite    *•%* 

Mail  Cars ^X 

Maine,  Ensign  of  the. •  •  *»* 

Males  and  Females,  Proportion  of.  30 


572 
574 
6,  7 
544 
25 
77 
222 
182 
197 
219 
455 
261 
260 
566 
418 
138 
195 
196 
106 
214 
60 
5 

71 

113 

151 

147 

76 

77 


Manganese   ...,.....,...••.•••••. 

Manufactures 

Maps,  Geologic   

Marble    Production    

Mars    

Maxim,    Sir    Hiram 

Meat  Packing   

Median  Point    

Medicine  and  Surgery,   Bureau  of.. 

Men  of  Progress 

Metallic   Products,  Miscellaneous .  .  . 

Metals,  Scrap   

Meteors    

Mica   

Mileage,  Railway,  of  the  U.  S 

Military   Aviation    

Military  Bureaus   

Military  Establishment 

Militia,  Peace  Strength  of 280, 

Milk,  Condensed 

Milky  Way    

Mineral  Industry  of  the  U.  S 

Mineral  Paints   

Mines,   Bureau  of 191,  193, 

Mining  Accidents   

Mint,  Director  of  the 

Minting  of  Coins   

Mirage    

Money,   Destruction  of  Old 

Money  in  Circulation    

Money,  Uncle   Sam's    

Monuments,  National ' 

Moon    434, 

Motion  Pictures  in  the  Making 

Motorcycles     

Moving  Picture  Studio,   First 

Moving  Pictures  Under  Water 

Mules  and  Horses    

Mussel    

N 

National  Museum     

National  Parks,    Our   

Nation,   Heart  of  the 

Natural  Gas    

Naturalization     

Nauen  Wireless  Station    

Naval  Consulting  Board 

Naval  Officers    

Navigation,    Bureau    of 528, 

Navy,  Cost  of 

Navy,  Department   of   the. 

Navy,  Enlisted   Men    

Navy  Expenditures 

Navy,  The  New    

Navy  Increase  Since  1903 

Navy,  Secretary   of   the 

Naval   Observatory    

Navy,  Vessels  of    

Nebulae    

Negro  Population 

Newspaper   Plant,    Railway 

Nickel 

Non-Metallic   Products    

Notes  Issued  and  Redeemed 


m 

211 
120 
196 
436 
208 
61 
22 
534 
201 
184 
186 
437 
196 
146 
375 
511 
282 
289 
213 
430 
177 
196 
544 
195 
496 
313 
421 
292 
294 
293 
101 
438 
399 
217 
409 
398 
60 
72 


576 
95 
449 
188 
574 
393 
276 
276 
567 
269 
526 
272 
270 
263 
263 
526 
529 
266 
429 
26 
157 
184 
188 
.296 


Oats    •      4 

Occupations    "*».f5 

Oilcloth    •.  •  •    214 

Oils,   Vegetable,  World's   Production 
of    18 ' 


INDEX 


59? 


Ore  Handling,  Mechanical   244 

Organization  of  Government   478 

Organs    222 


Paints  and  Varnishes 220 

Paints,   Mineral    190 

Panama  Canal    109 

Panama  Canal  Zone   345 

Pan-American  Union   591 

Paper    219 

Parcel  Post   162 

Parks,  National,  Our 95 

Passenger   Service,    Railway.  ...  152,  154 

Patent,  Early   200 

Patent  Office    199,  540,  541 

Patents   Increasing    202 

Peaches    . . 54 

Peary,    Admiral    8 

Peas    56 

Pension    Office    543 

Petroleum 185,  187,  188 

Philippine  Islands    335 

Phonographs    222 

Phosphate  Rock   192 

Pianos     222 

Pipe,   Cast  Iron    217 

Planets   433 

Plant    Industry    555 

Platinum    178 

Poles     80 

Pollock    70 

Ponce  de  Leon   3 

Population  of  the  U.   S ]9 

Population  of  the  World 23 

Population,  Center  of    20,  22 

Porto    Rico    34 1 

Portuguese  Possessions 13 

Possessions,  Our  Non-Contiguous...    327 

Postmaster  General   522 

Postage   Stamps,   Making 171 

Postal  Savings    165 

Postal  Service     161 

Post   Office   Department    522 

Post  Office  Expenditures 168 

Potash    192 

Potatoes     45 

Pottery  Products   190 

Powder,   Naval    278 

Power    Development,    Reclamation..      91 
Precious  Stones,  World's  Production 

of    195,   197 

Precipitation    421 

Preparedness,    Commercial    and    In- 
dustrial        245 

President,   Letter  from  the 172 

President,   The    405 

Printing   and   Publishing 220 

Printing    Office,    Government 582 

Progress  of  Geographical  Discovery.     11 

Pulp,  Wood 219 

Purchases  Made  by  U.   S 240 


Quarry   Industry    196 

Quicksilver     184 

R 

Races  of  TJ.  S 24 

Races  of  the   World 27 

Radium     184 

Railroads  of  the  U.  S 145 


Railway  Mail   

Railway  Wireless 

Realm  of  the  Air,  The 

Reclamation   Service    

Records,  Aircraf i, 

Religions   of  the  World 

Resources,  National 

Revenue,  Protection  of   . 

Rice    ...'. 

Roads,  Good  and  Bad 

Roads,    Public,    Office    of.  . 

Rolling   Mills    

Roosevelt  Dam 

Rosin    

Rubber  Goods   

Rubber,  World's  Production  of. 
Rural  Free  Delivery... 
Rye    


50, 


Safety   First   Train 

Salt 

Samoan  Islands   . 

Sand    I.'.;*. 

Sandstone  Production   

Saturn   432, 

School  Enrollment   

Scouting  Aeroplanes    

Seal    Fisheries    

Seal  of  the  U.  S 

Seaplanes     

Seasons,  March  of  the 

Senate  Chamber   

Sheep   

Sheep  Raising  Regions   . 

Sleet    

Shipbuilding    

Shipping   Board 

Ship    Registry    Act 

Ship  Wireless  Stations.  .  . 

Silk    

Silver    ...!... 

Silver   Production,    World's.. 

Skins   and   Hides 

Sky   Line,    New   York's .  .  . 

Slate 

Slaughtering   and    Meat    Packing.. 

Small  Arms,  Military 

Smithsonian  Institution    

Smudge   Pots    

Smuggling    

Soap    

Soapstone     

South   Pole  Expedition 

Standards,  Bureau  of 

Stamps    . . 

Stamps,   Manufacture   of .  .  . 

Starch     

Star  Maps 439, 

Stars     

"Star   Spangled   Banner" 

State,  Department  of   

Steamboat  Inspection  Service 

Steam  Cars    

Steam  Engineering,  Bureau  of 

Steel   Works    

St.   Elmo's   Fire 

Stockholders,   Railway 

Street  Railways   

Suffrage,   Woman's 

Sugar    

Sugar,  World's  Production  of 

Sulphur  , 


166 
387 
411 

87 
378 

31 
173 
321 
212 
103 
559 
215 

93 
221 
221 

48 
164 

45 


147 

194 

344 

196 

190 

437 

255 

376 

71 

480 

380 

414 

456 

65 

59 

421 

217 

248 

248 

389 

214 

178 

179 

64 

33 

196 

212 

289 

575 

58 

325 

221 

196 

10 

565 

162 

304 

222 

445 

427 

351 

479 

569 

217 

534 

215 

418 

150 

158 

32 

58 

57 

194 


69* 


OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  RESOURCES 


Sulphuric  Acid   194 

Supreme   Court   461 

Surf  Boat    141 

Survey,  Coast  and  Geodetic 127 

Survey,  Geological    117 

Survey,  Hydrographic    129 

Surveying,   Romance  of 125 

Surveys,   Government    119 

Swine    65 

Sword  Fish   70 


Talc    190 

Talking   Machines    222 

Tariff  Commission    248 

Tea,   World's   Production   of 55 

Teachers     258 

Telegraphic   Communications  of   the 

World    382 

Telegraphy,  Wireless   383 

Telephony  Without   Wires 392 

Telescopes    425 

Territory,  Acquisition   of 21 

Textiles    213 

Thunderstorms    417 

Tide  Predictor    131 

Tile  and  Brick 190 

Tile   Fish    72 

Timber  Cut    by    Species 79 

Timber  Regions   of   the   World 7S 

Timber  Supply    75 

Tin    180 

Tin   and   Terne   Plate 217 

Tin.  World's  Production  of 197 

Titanium    18<J 

Tobacco     no,   52.   53 

Tobacco  Culture   53 

Tobacco,  World's  Production  of....  51 

Tomato  Plants    .  .  .' 54 

Tolls,  Panama  Canal 112 

Topographic  Work   122 

Tornadoes    417 

Track,   Railway 146 

Transportation    217 

Treasury    21)3 

Treasurer  of  the  II.    S 495 

Treasury,   Department  of  the 493 

Treasury     Receipts     and     Disburse- 
ments       298 

Tree.   Oldest    95 

Triangulation.  Survey    , 126 


Tungsten ige 

Turpentine     221 

Twine    213 

U 

Uncle    Sam's   Autobiography 447 

United   States  Possessions 13 

Uranium 1S6 


Vanadium igfl 

Vegetable    Oils,    World's    Production 

of    187 

Vespucci,  Amerigo   3 

Vocational   Education    259 

Volcanoes  of  the  World « 

W 

Wagons     217 

War  College,  Army    508 

War,   Department  of    506 

War  Game.   Army    510 

War.   Secretary  of    506 

Washington  Monument   451 

Washington,  the  Nation's  City 447 

Water  Power  on  National  Forests.  .  85 

Weather    Bureau    548 

Westinghouse,  George    207 

Wheat 43 

Whistle.   Uncle  Sam's    446 

White  House 467 

Wilson,  A.   B 203 

Wind  Belts  of  the  Earth 415 

Wine,   World's   Production   of 54 

Wire    21(5 

Wireless,    Railway    387 

Wireless  Telegraphy    383 

Woman's   Suffrage    32 

Wood   Preservation    82 

Woolen   and   Worsted   Goods 215 

Woolworth   Building    254 

Workmen's    Compensation,    Federal.  59O 

Wright   Brothers    363 


Yards  and  Docks,  Bureau  of 531 

Yosemite   100,  102 


Zeppelin  Airships 378 

Zinc 182 


